


Gliding on Air

by LevelHeadedPrick



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Olympics, F/M, Minor Avi/Johan, Minor Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Minor Carey/Killian (The Adventure Zone), Minor Davenport/Merle Highchurch, Minor Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), Slow Burn, TAZ Big Bang 2018, The Adventure Bang 2018, figure skating AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-06 06:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 46,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16383431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LevelHeadedPrick/pseuds/LevelHeadedPrick
Summary: With athletes all over the world on their way to the Olympic games, the eyes of figure skating fans everywhere are on breakout pair Magnus Burnsides and Lucretia Powers. What rivalries will rear their ugly head? Will the public finally get a straight answer as to whether they're dating or not? Most importantly, how will these young athletes hold up to the pressure of a billion eyes scrutinizing their programs? Find out all this and more, next.Written for AdventureBang 2018!





	1. Opening

Lucretia winced and blinked awake slowly as the dim wake-up lights in the cabin of the plane came on. She felt like she'd only recently fallen asleep. She sat up and looked around to see who else was waking up. Both Magnus in the seat next to her and Merle across the aisle were out cold. Davenport was working on something on his laptop. He caught her eye as she looked over and tilted his head to indicate his other side. Lucretia thought he was nodding at Lup and Barry, who were both also still asleep until she noticed that Taako's seat was empty. She sat up a bit and spotted him a row back with the handsome stranger he'd been chatting up since they'd left the previous afternoon. More accurately, he was asleep on said handsome stranger. She raised her eyebrows at Davenport and they both shared a smirk. Gently, she turned and rubbed Magnus' arm. "Hey.”  
  
Magnus woke up all at once, letting out a massive snort that turned into coughing. "Huh? What?"  
  
So much for letting him see Taako. That seemed to wake up several rows of seats around them, based on the groaning and glares they were getting. Lucretia turned to look back over. Merle was still asleep, amazingly, but Taako was already scrambling back to his seat with a sheepish look. The stranger was blinking blearily like he didn't fully understand what was going on.  
  
Magnus put his head on top of Lucretia's and followed her gaze to the stranger. "What's up with Tall Dark and Handsome?"  
  
Lucretia rolled her eyes and shoved him off. "Taako was sleeping on him until you woke him up, Foghorn." Apparently, the cabin was still quiet enough that her voice traveled, and Taako shot her a look that could kill. She stuck her tongue out at him and then turned to focus on Magnus. "I think we're almost there, anyway. They should start coming around with breakfast soon if they're waking everyone up." She leaned away as Magnus started stretching obnoxiously.  
  
Slowly, the cabin did wake up. She could hear the hockey team in the back of the plane starting to chatter excitedly. The louder they got, the more people seemed to wake up around them.  
  
Finally, the stewardess came over the speakers to welcome them all to their destination. She talked about the weather and the trip and then said that breakfast would be coming around in just a few minutes. Lucretia was hardly aware of what was going on.  
  
They rushed through customs, to their bags, and out onto the buses that took them to the Olympic Village. It was all just incredibly exciting. Magnus waited with Lucretia and Taako as they waited for Merle and Davenport to get their room keys for them from the administration building. With the keys in their hands, they were off. Taako laughed at the younger skaters' excitement. "Don't hurt yourselves, kids. This isn't the Ritz. More like a college dorm, really."  
  
That did nothing to put a damper on their excitement as Lucretia and Magnus got up to their suite and started exploring. It was fairly simple, just like Taako had said. Two bedrooms off of a main living area with a bathroom in between. The living area had a small kitchenette and a couch that looked like it might pull out into a third bed if necessary. There was clean bedding, including a themed blanket that they had already been told that they'd be able to keep. The bathroom had a shower with a tub just big enough for Lucretia to lay down in all curled up. They knew they wouldn't get much use out of it. If they needed an ice bath, they’d get it at the arena. But it was nice to know it was there if they needed to soak their feet or something. They put their things down and started unpacking a bit. Lucretia put her equipment bag down by her dresser and got to work on unpacking her clothes. She didn't think she needed to deal with the stuff in her equipment bag. After all, she'd just need to pack it all back up the next day.

 

* * *

 

 

After getting unpacked, showered, and changed, Lucretia and Magnus had very little time to get to the planned team dinner before the opening ceremony. It was nothing particularly fancy; they were meeting on their floor lounge and eating from a buffet that the coaches had catered ahead of time. Merle and Davenport were sitting with the other coaches. Davenport gave them a small nod as they passed by to get their plates. Taako and Lup were sitting with Barry and the rest of his curling team. Taako seemed to not be paying attention at all to the room around him, absently nibbling on a bread roll as he texted.  
  
Before long, Magnus spotted the table he was looking for. He put a finger to his lips and handed Lucretia his plate before sneaking up on a petite girl with a bright blue pixie cut and reaching around like he was going to pick her up. Before he managed it, she reached up and twisted around to headlock him. “There you are, Twinkle Toes. I thought you might’ve gotten lost.”  
  
“Damn, have you gotten faster over the past few months?”  
  
“No duh. Fast is what I’m here for.”  
  
Lucretia just chuckled at their antics and put their plates down in front of two. "It's good to see you again, Carey. Where’s Killian?”  
  
"The hockey cult is having a double team powwow. Superstitious bullshit. You know how it is." Lucretia didn't, but Magnus nodded in understanding as she let him go.  
  
A man with dark hair pulled into a topknot and showing an undercut crossed his arms. "What, do I get no love at all?"  
  
"Who are you?" Magnus only managed to keep his blank face on for half a second before he walked up to Avi and greeted him with a quick hug as well. "What the hell did you do to your hair, man?"  
"Decided I was done with the literally frozen gel look."  
  
"He decided nothing of the sort." The man next to him spoke up. "I told him the gel made him smell like a douchebag, and this was his solution."  
  
Magnus grinned. "You must be Johann. Pleasure." He stuck a hand out and shook his hand.  
  
Avi did the same with Lucretia. "It's good to finally meet you, Luce. Although it definitely doesn't feel like we're just meeting, with how much he goes on."

Lucretia laughed and squeezed his hand. "Likewise." She may not have known Magnus' friends well personally, but she knew of them. Carey, Killian, Magnus had known each other since they were in elementary school. They took their first skating classes together. Of course, they ended up going in different directions. Carey did the shorter lengths of long track speed skating and Killian went into hockey. Magnus split off from her from hockey into figure skating after a couple years of not enjoying himself. They met Avi when he moved into town in middle school, and he was added to their group of friends just before high school after an eighth grade trip to a ski resort revealed his snowboarding abilities.  
  
Unfortunately, they no longer got to see each other very often. The last time they had all been together had been Candlenights their senior year when they had all rented a room at the resort and had a blast. After graduation, Avi had moved away to the town where the resort resided. Snowboarding had recently been added as a sport in the Olympics, and the owner had jumped on the popularity of the sport and put in a slopestyle course and pipes to attract athletes to train. Avi had jumped on the opportunity to take the sport seriously. Now, he taught lessons in between training and was working on becoming a permanent fixture at the resort.

Killian had gotten drafted by a team in the National Women's Hockey League a year ago and had to move to a city a few hours from their hometown. Carey had moved with her since there was a legitimate speed skating program at the arena Killian would be training at. Magnus did his best to make his way over for Killian's games and had brought Lucretia to a few after they were paired up two years back. She hadn't met Avi before now, but Magnus had told her plenty of stories about him.

Quickly, they all sat down. The three friends quickly launched into catching up. Avi and Carey had been here for a week now, as they had both had qualifying events the past few days. They had both qualified, which Magnus already knew from watching the events live on TV, but still, he pressed them for details.

Which left Johann and Lucretia, sitting there and listening. She finally got sick of listening to them ramble about an event that Magnus had already seen and turned to Johann. "So what are you here for? I know Magnus mentioned that you and Avi got together recently. Do you snowboard, or...?"

Johann shook his head. "I ski a bit, but I'm not an athlete. I work at the resort. Concierge and as a live musician for the restaurant."

She sat up a bit straighter in confusion. "But..."

"Why am I in the Village if I'm not an athlete?" He guessed easily. She nodded, but he was already continuing. "I'm a volunteer. I help pass out water bottles and get you all organized for the Opening Ceremony tonight, and in exchange, they let me bunk for free with Avi and attend events and stuff."

Lucretia hummed a bit. "Hm. That's an interesting way to do that. You took the whole month off work, though?"

Johann put his hands up in admission. "A bit extreme, I know. Especially while we're in the middle of the season. But the start of the early spring breakers isn't until after we get back, and the owner of the resort thought that it would be a shame for me to miss this opportunity."

"That's really cool, actually." Magnus interrupted. They hadn't even realized that the conversation next to them had turned to focus on them.

"It's like the kids in juveniles that help with skating competitions. I love that."

Johann made a face, which made Carey reach over and smack Magnus' arm. "And here I though Lucretia was training you up right. Bad boy."

"If you think I have any control over him whatsoever, then I'm not sure I believe that you've actually met Magnus before." That got a laugh out of the table.

Avi grinned at her. "That's fair. We had four years to, and we didn't manage it."

They settled into chatting again about everything and nothing at all.

 

* * *

 

 

They passed the evening that way easily, eventually hooking back up with Killian as the entire team started making their way to the opening ceremony arena to get dressed and ready. It was neat to watch the show on the televisions set up on the stadium, knowing there were thousands of people above them that were there to see them compete.

Lucretia was in love with the jackets from the moment she saw them. They weren't too long as a lot of the ones in the previous years, and they were a nice dark blue that she thought she could definitely pull off even outside of the Olympics. "We get cool jackets for free and a cool comforter? I love this already."

That got a laugh out of Taako, who was nearby. "I mean, the blankets aren't that great. The jackets are pretty dope, though, I'll give you that."

Magnus rolled his eyes. "You have two blankets at home and you're already sick of them? Really? That's lame shit, man."

Barry chuckled. "He doesn't have any at home. Lup stole his blankets from the last two. The ones sitting on our couch at our flat?"

Lucretia perked up at that. She started back in on the topics she'd been grilling them for weeks on: about what to expect from the opening and closing ceremonies and everything in between. They didn't get very far before the attendants started to come around and get them prepared for the parade of nations. Lucretia took hold of Magnus' mittened hand and squeezed. This was it. This made it really real.

They all walked out together to the flash of cameras and upbeat music. Taako and Lup instantly started having fun with it, dancing and earning laughs from those around them. Lucretia just smiled and waved and occasionally bumped into Magnus to point something out. It was fun. It was a big party, just as everyone had told her to expect. When they finally made their way around and to their seats, they waited for their group of friends and acquaintances so that they could all pile in together.

Merle put his arm around Davenport as they sat down. "This year was a good one, huh? A lot more exciting than our first."

"It's exciting every year, you dork." Still, Davenport settled easily against his husband.

Lucretia stuck out her tongue to Magnus and silently pretended to gag, earning a laugh. The rest of the ceremony was interesting, if less exciting.

Whenever they respectfully could, her teammates around her started running through plans for the afterparty. Avi had tracked down a good nightclub on the other side of town that wasn’t the top place to go that night so it wouldn't be too crowded. Magnus leaned into the conversation. "Good drinks too?"

Avi shrugged. "The music was good and the drinks I tried were good. They got some good top-shelf shit, at least. I was in a celebratory mood when I qualified, not a party mood. Not sure how good the cheap shit is."

Taako blew out his lips and rolled his eyes. "Worst comes to worst we ditch and load up at a liquor store and party back at home. Which is a dope way to do it, trust me."

Lup leaned forward to put a hand on Lucretia's shoulders. "You dipping out again, chickadee?"

  
Lucretia gave her a slight smile and a shrug. "You know me, Lup. I'm not a dance club girl." That earned some groans and chiding from Magnus' friends that didn't know her well. But Magnus, Lup, and Taako stayed out of it. They'd all known her long enough to know she'd come out if she wanted to and that she'd have a bad time if she didn't want to.

"So what's your game plan, then?"

"Takeout and wine and Netflix." After being cooped up on a plane all day, she couldn't imagine anything better than spreading out in her warmest pajamas with carb-laden food and a bottle of wine.  
Barry hummed as he heard that. "I dunno, Lup. I might need to ditch you and chill with Lucretia tonight. That sounds nice as hell."

Lup wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him close. "Darlingest dearest husband, you're coming out if I have to drag you. We haven't gotten properly wasted since my birthday and I can't remember the last time we went to a club. With your dumb daily match schedule, my time with you is limited."

Barry chuckled at that and leaned over to kiss her temple. "Sorry, Luce. At least we won't have to fight over what to watch."

Lucretia just smirked at him. "Not sure you want to see me in full chillout mode anyway, Barry. I only let Mags see me like that because I can't kick him out of the suites."

"No, you can't." Magnus shoved her arm slightly. "You sure you want to be alone tonight, though?"

She shook her head at the wordless offer. "I'll be fine. Go have fun. We don't have practice until the afternoon anyway. You've got a ton of time to recover from whatever hangover you manage to give yourself."

Magnus laughed at that. “Will do.” As another presentation started, they focused back on the ceremony. Plans were finalized around them, and finally, the torch was lit. The Olympics were open, and their evening was just beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick rundown of the cast so far, for clarity:
> 
> Magnus and Lucretia: Early 20s, pairs skaters, not a couple  
> Taako: Late 20s, men's singles, trains at the same rink as Magnus and Lucretia  
> Lup: Late 20s, biathalon (skiing with shooting), married to Barry, knows Magnus and Lucretia through Taako  
> Barry: Late 20s, curling, married to Lup, knows Magnus and Lucretia through Taako  
> Merle and Davenport: 50s, married, former men's singles skaters. Merle is Taako's coach, Davenport is Magnus' and Lucretia's.  
> Carey: Early 20s, long track speed skating, dating Killian  
> Killian: Early 20s, women's hockey, dating Carey  
> Avi: Early 20s, snowboarding bro, dating Johan  
> Johan: Early 20s, not an athlete, v supportive of his good boyfriend  
> Kravitz: ????, Handsome?
> 
> Will be updating twice a day through this wonderful week of the Adventure Bang! Thanks to my beta and to my wonderful artist. If you have any figure skating questions or if anything was confusing, don't hesitate to leave a comment down below!


	2. Theft

Everyone was bussed back to the village and they all went their separate ways. Lucretia couldn't help but notice that practically the only ones that went inside were those that had an early morning event the very next day. Everyone else was dispersing out through the city. She took her time with getting her wine and then her takeout order. She wasn't in any hurry, and she didn't feel any rush to get back. This part of the city was buzzing with athletes and with police and security, so she felt safe to just linger and enjoy the night.

Finally, she walked up to the room, bag of food and drink tucked under her arm. She put her key in the lock and was surprised to find that it wouldn't turn any further. Magnus must've come up here to change for the party and forgot to lock the door, she thought. She'd have to get on him later for it. She came in and put her purchases down on the table. Nothing looked out of place, so it was no big deal. She would get on him for it in the morning, but she didn't need to worry about it now.

She put some music on her phone and walked into her room to get changed. It had been a cold night, and even with her new jacket she was chilled. She decided quickly to put on a pair of leggings underneath her pajamas for an extra layer of warmth. She just needed to grab them out of her workout bag.

She turned to grab it off her dresser and stopped. It wasn't there. Huh. She was sure that was where she left it. She looked around the rest of the room, under the bed. It wasn't there. She walked out to the main room of the suite. Magnus' things were put away, so it was clear that her bag wasn't there. After hesitating for a moment, she went into Magnus' room as well to look, finding nothing. It was only then that she started to get truly worried. She'd had her equipment bag before they went to the ceremony, she knew it. There was no way it could just be gone.

Lucretia nervously picked up her phone. She hesitated over a few things. Did she call security? Did she call Davenport? She finally just tapped on Magnus’ name.

 

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 23:34] Hey. I know you're still out at your party and all that. But did you go back to our suite before you headed out?

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:40] Heeey Lucy!! I was there for a few minutes, what's up??

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 23:40] Do you remember if you locked the door on your way out?

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:41] Preeettty sure I did.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:42] I have my key. So probs.

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 23:42] I believe you. I just didn't check if it was before I came in and it turns extra times and my equipment bag is gone, Magnus. My skates, everything.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:42] Wait, fuck, really????

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:44] I stuck it on your bed 'cause I tripped over it. It a gone

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 23:44] I wouldn't joke about something like this. I've looked everywhere for it. Apologies about digging through your room, by the way. I was panicked.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:45] Fuck

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:45] Who has a key??

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:46] It isn't in the locker room somehow???

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:46] Is my stuff there?

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 23:48] Yeah, your stuff is all here. I think Dav would have told us if he was taking our stuff to the locker room because my jogging shoes were in there too.

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 23:49] Other than him, staff? Like security and maintenance? I don't know.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:49] Shut. I dunno.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:50] We gotta call Dav.

 

[FROM: Lucretia SENT: 23:51] Are you still up? I have a bit of a situation.

 

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:52] You gotta call Dav. Um a little fucked up and thus us the best in communicating rn

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 23:52] Can you get back here please? I texted him, but I'm also freaking out and need someone here.

 

[FROM: Andrew Davenport SENT: 23:53] What’s wrong?

[FROM: Lucretia SENT: 23:54] My equipment bag is missing. Magnus can confirm that it was here because he tripped on it getting changed out of ceremony stuff.

[FROM: Andrew Davenport SENT: 23:54] You searched the room?

 

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:55] Gimme like fifteen to find Avi.

 

[FROM: Lucretia SENT: 23:55] Thoroughly.

 

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:56] Taako too maybe?? He's on a table somewhere and that's gonna be a whole thing isn't it

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 23:56] Hey Lucy autocorrect I'd good

 

[FROM: Andrew Davenport SENT: 23:57] I’m calling security and Merle’s calling the airport. We’ll find the bag. Get some water and do some yoga or something. Security might want a statement from you.

 

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 23:57] Taako can handle himself. Avi gets super aggro at these kinds of parties without you around.

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 23:58] Dav is calling security and the airport. You swear you tripped on it earlier?

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:01] Unless I put my same looking bag on your bed

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:03] No, yours is with your stuff in your room.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:03] ..Avi is telling about snowboards I got him I'm gonna pick him up then we're gonna head back to the village

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:04] Theb it has to be yours, right?

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:04] Yeah. But that's such a narrow window where someone got in and out? I only got here late because I got takeout.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:07] Was someone spying????

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:07] I don't know.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:08] Also: takeout sounds super good that's a good idea you're so smart

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:09] There's security cameras tho right

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:09] Yes, there's lots of security here. It's supposed to be super safe.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:11] Camwraasas can see who went in

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:12] Theb where they went and boon solved like a spy movie

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:12] God, you're really fucked up. Where are you guys?

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:13] Street. On the way.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:14] Avi found the club? Lotta the team's there it's all cool

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:14] Don't get hit by anything.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:15] Nahhg were good.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:15] People street.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:16] Sidewalk!

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:16] I'll have some water bottles out for you guys.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:19] You want Avi over?

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:19] I was gonna duno him at his place

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:19] I really don't care. I just don't want to be alone.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:22] Mmmm he'd just sleep on the couch I think Johann is home I'll give him to h in

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:22] Sounds good.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:22] Cool cool

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:23] You good in there? I can make a vending machine atop if you need

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:24] I'm not hungry and I didn't eat any of my food anyway, so there’s lots to eat.

 

[FROM: Andrew Davenport SENT: 00:24] Merle didn’t have any luck with the airport. No unclaimed bags from our flight. Still on hold with security. Sit tight.

 

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:25] You gotta eat Lucy c'mon

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:25] Dav says the airport didn't have the bag.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:26] So it's still in the village nice

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:26] I think I might throw up.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:27] Nooo don't do that

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:27] Not on purpose. If I eat.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:09] Ughgh fine okay just drink water or something

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:10] No puking if either of us likes tonight it's gonna be me because those last shots were a bad idea

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:10] I'm just sitting down right now. I'll drink something in a bit.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:12] Ok at

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:15] Dropping Avi off now

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:20] Johann says hi

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:20] Did you tell them what's going on or?

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:22] Said there's a skating crisis and that's like it

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:23] Johann was more worries about Avi and the fight he started don't worry

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:23] Okay. I just don't think this getting out is a good idea.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:24] Okay cool can do

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:25] Colin over is the door open

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:25] Yeah. I didn't lock it after I came in. Didn't see the need to.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:26] Good cause keys are fiddly and all and weird

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:26] Maybe you should just lay down when you get here.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:27] Nah I'm good I'm better than Avi

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:27] I think you may me more fucked up than you think, judging by your texts.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:28] Shhh I'm good

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:28] If you say so, dear.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:29] We can look at the suite again to make sure the bag isn't hidden

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:29] Believe me, it's not here.

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:30] Ah, I should probably warn you. It sort of looks like we were robbed because I turned over the place looking. Nothing else was out of place when I got here.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:30] Nooo

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:31] I'm not gonna know wherw Johnny is now

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:31] I didn't go through your bags, silly. They're on your bed.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:33] But what if your stuff is in my bags and it's a prank or something

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:34] Gonna look she I get there

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:34] I'm pretty sure it's not, but knock yourself out.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:35] Do you have water out and if yes are you gonna drink any??

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:35] I will don't worry

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:36] I tried to stand up and go get some water the first time you said it but I felt dizzy.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:37] Okay we can get water together

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:39] I'm on our floor okay

[FROM: Lucy SENT: 00:39] Thanks for coming so quick, Mags.

[FROM: Magnus Burnsides SENT: 00:40] Course I came you're my partner and I love you and were ride or die okay

 

Lucretia had continued her search after she’d texted Magnus, further messing up their suite. She was sitting on a couch cushion in the middle of the floor, bent over with her head between her knees, her forehead nearly touching the carpet. The couch and coffee table had both been moved from their original positions, as had the beds in the rooms. She didn’t move at all in reaction to the door opening.

Magnus took care to move quietly and calmly, closing the door gently behind him and taking off his shoes at the door. Lucretia groaned softly, pulling her upper body further forward. “I meant thank you for the speed. I’d have killed you if you’d tried to stay at the club.”

“No murder, you need me to skate.” Magnus made a beeline for the fridge and started digging through. Water in hand, Magnus picked his way over and flopped down next to her on the floor. “Here. Drink.” He tapped her with the bottle. When she didn’t respond, he tapped again.

Lucretia finally sat up, the corner of her mouth turned up in amusement at his persistence. “At this point? I can’t skate with or without you, Mags. I don’t have skates.” She opened the lid of the water and sipped slowly, trying to avoid the nausea that had been building up in her stomach.

“No,” Magnus drew out the word, shaking his head. “You can find new skates if you really gotta.” Breaking in new skates sucked, he knew, but it would be fine in a pinch.

Lucretia hummed doubtfully. With her mouth moistened, her throat was feeling less tight and her head felt more stable. “You should help yourself to the takeout. You need to sop up some of that alcohol and the food’ll just go bad if it sits out any longer anyway.”

Magnus pursed his lips. Now that he was on the floor, the fuzziness of his head was telling him he should stay down. And he wasn’t super hungry anyway. “We can put it in the fridge. Alcohol’s already in my system, ‘s too late for all that.”

“Ok, but a lot of it is still in your stomach.” Lucretia sighed, knowing she didn’t have the energy to really argue. “Just make sure you drink lots of water tonight, alright? I’ll dim the hangover in the morning which is when we really need to figure out what we’re going to do.” As she finished off the water, she laid back and laid an arm over her eyes. Her phone dinged next to her and she blearily picked it up.

“I’m drinking,” Magnus replied, lifting the bottle into the air as proof (maybe a bit too enthusiastically, seeing as he sloshed some water onto his hand). “I’ll put the takeout away in a minute.”

 

[FROM: Andrew Davenport SENT: 00:47] Security basically said there was nothing they could do until morning. They said to come down after breakfast and they’ll take a statement, which they have to file to pull the tapes.

[FROM: Andrew Davenport SENT: 00:48] I’m going to work on getting a new pair of skates comped by the team budget. Try to get some sleep. Don’t go googling sports stores until we talk.

[FROM: Lucretia SENT: 00:48] K. Mags is back. You get some sleep too.

 

Lucretia sighed as she put her phone aside. “Security can’t do anything until the morning. Which is super dumb. The asshole could jump on a plane and be halfway around the world before they identify him.”

Magnus laid back next to her, crossing his ankles and putting them up on the coffee table. “That’s like, super dumb. But why would someone take your skates on a plane?”

Lucretia shrugged. “I dunno. It’s harder to prosecute them then?” She rolled over to face Magnus as she drew her knees up to her chest.

“Nah, then it becomes an international crime and, like, INTERPOL takes it.” Magnus sounded like he knew what he was talking about, but at the same time he knew Lucretia was probably right. If the bag was gone, it was just a bag of shoes and clothes. It wasn’t going to be anyone’s top priority.

“Anyway, they can’t look tonight because of bureaucracy bullshit. I bet they gave Dav the option to call the police, but we’re probably in agreement that would attract too much press attention.”

Magnus continued to frown. “What’s so bad ‘bout the media? You didn’t do anything wrong.” He looked at his water for a moment and then decided to give drinking while laying down a go. It worked pretty well; only a little water dribbled down his cheeks.

Lucretia rolled her eyes fondly and reached over to wipe the wetness away. “Mags, I don’t even like giving interviews that focus on skating or whether we’re fucking or not. I don’t think I could stand being the pair who got our shit stolen.”

“The pair who got your shit stolen.” Magnus reached over to poke Lucretia in the cheek.

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Not helpful.” He just grinned in response. She shook her head, though she was frowning a bit less. “I can’t decide if I should look up a local shop and make an attempt to break in skates in a week or if I should call my landlord and see if she’d be willing to dig my old ones out of my closet and ship them. They’re really shitty and worn out, but skating on bloody feet is a nightmare.

“Old ones would definitely be more comfortable, but they wouldn’t get here in time for tomorrow’s scheduled practice.” He took her hand, lacing their fingers and squeezing. “You could have mine if you want. I don’t think they’d fit, but you can try.”

That got a chuckle out of her, but she didn’t dignify it with a response. She pushed some of Magnus’ hair out of his face. “My old skates are really shitty. They’re from juniors.”

He nodded “But is it more shitty to get blisters?” She hummed in indecision. He brought his feet down and started moving to get up. He stalled on his elbows, letting his head stop spinning. “Still got your costumes?”

“Yeah. Paloma’s flying in the day after tomorrow, I think? She wanted to make a few last alterations to the embroidery and rhinestones.”

“Mm. Smart of her to bring it herself.” He nodded and sat up the rest of the way, leaning forward for a moment. “So we gotta find skates in the morning. What else was in the bag?”

Lucretia closed her eyes in thought. “Some practice sweats, but I have others. Uh, my knee brace, running shoes, dance slippers, painkillers, some extra leggings, and socks…” She paused, her brow furrowing. “I can’t remember whether I decided to pack my yoga mat or not.”

“So nothing else super-critical to replace ASAP?”

Lucretia considered that for a moment. They were all things she liked to have access to at a moment’s notice, but she supposed he was right. “We’re going to a sports shop anyway, so I’d like to at least get a knee brace. I don’t want my knee to get tricky at the same time that my feet are torn up.”

Magnus nodded. “Makes sense.” He finally pushed himself to his feet with the help of the coffee table. “Gonna go fix the takeout. You sure you don’t want any?”

“I wanna die,” Lucretia mumbled dramatically, flopping back over with her arm over her eyes.

“No dying. It’s not allowed.” He stumbled slightly, but made it over to the kitchenette and leaned against the counter without falling.

By the time he turned around, Lucretia had followed him over and was picking through the styrofoam box on the table. “I guess I should eat some of it or I’ll feel even shittier in the morning. Last I ate was lunch.” She put the food down for now and opened the small bottle of wine she’d bought instead. She took a swig and made a face. “Gross. It’s gone warm.” She emptied the bottle into her travel coffee mug and sat down at the kitchen table to start picking the chicken out of the congealed pasta and alfredo.

“At least you still have pjs, hm?” Magnus smiled and leaned back against the counter.

“I’m not drunk enough to appreciate having pajamas, Magnus.” With that, she took a large swig of the wine. “Do you want the pasta? It’ll probably still be good if you pop it in the microwave.”

“I think I might puke if I ate right now, so nah.” He ran a hand back through his hair. “Pajamas sound real good right now, though. How about instead of you panicking all night, let’s put on a dumb movie and we snuggle.”

Lucretia smirked, chewing the piece of chicken in her mouth. She replied once she swallowed, “Oh, we’re moving the pre-competition routine to tonight?”

Magnus shrugged. “You look like you could use some de-stressing, and it works. My bed or yours?”

“Yours. Not interested in remaking my bed and moving it back into place.”

“Okey-dokey.” Magnus walked to his room to change, ruffling Lucretia’s hair as he passed. Lucretia spent a few moments picking through the pasta for any remaining chicken before she also went to change. While waiting for her, Magnus straightened furniture in the main room. He didn’t want either of them to trip going for the toilet in the morning. Lucretia came out in a camisole and shorts, her pillows under her arm and her mug of wine in the other. Magnus gave her a smile. “You planning on crashing in my room too?”

She shrugged. “If I sleep at all. Depends on if this wine is as strong as I think it is.” She let Magnus settle against the wall and then arranged herself on the outside, grabbing his laptop and pulling up Netflix.

“You gotta sleep, Lucy.” Magnus tried for a scolding tone despite his words still sounding sleepy and a bit slurred.

Sharing a bed on performance nights was a routine they’d fallen into early on as partners. Originally, it had just been Magnus trying to avoid sharing a room with Taako, who snored. But eventually, it had become as much a part of their superstitions as anything else. Sleeping next to a warm body felt nice and helped them both relax anyway, so it was not the worst superstition in the world. It was rare that one of them was stressed enough outside of the night before a competition for the other to think it was needed, but it wasn’t unheard of either. They’d stayed over at each other’s apartments during finals and after the first time Magnus had to put a dog to sleep. It was just normal for them, and there was nothing sexual about it, no matter what their friends liked to tease.

Lucretia started up a mindless romantic comedy and settled the laptop on the bed in front of them, cuddling back against Magnus’ chest. He tucked her head under his chin and pulled her close by the waist. “Well, I’m gonna sleep, and then you’ll be trapped, so. Might as well sleep too.”

Lucretia sat up for one second to guzzle the last of her wine and then laid back down. “Just don’t roll over on me and we’re good. Whether I sleep or not, you’re a good cuddler. Feels safe.” She grabbed one of her pillows and tucked it between her head and Magnus’ arm and then started the movie. “This is basically what I had planned for the evening anyway. Just less panicking and more carbs.”

Magnus chuckled. “You planned spooning with drunk me?”

She reached back to bat at his arm lightly. “I meant my alone plans. Drinking a bottle of wine and eating my pasta and watching dumb movies. But let’s be real. When was the last time we got wasted together and didn’t end up in the same bed.”

Magnus paused for a moment. “Never? We started cuddling long before I ever saw you trashed.” That earned a snorting laugh from Lucretia. They tried to focus on the movie, but after a few minutes Magnus gave up the urge to be distracted by Lucretia. He played with her hair absently and eventually slipped his other arm out so that he could braid it.

Lucretia grunted at the loss of solid support. “Mags, what’re you doing?”

“Braiding.” He answered simply. Lucretia exhaled through her nose in a semblance of a laugh but didn’t protest again. He was quiet as well, just braiding, undoing the braid, and then trying a different size or method.

She closed her eyes, just enjoying the feeling of his fingers against her scalp and the gentle way he was tugging at her hair. “That…actually feels really nice.” The styles she got put in for shows were always tight against her scalp, so it was really nice to have someone playing with her hair gently for once.

“Yeah?” He smiled. “Lemme know if I yank it or something.” Magnus continued on, trying to pretend he knew how to do a style that wasn’t crooked.

“You know what night was really good?” He hummed questioningly in response. “The night after we got gold at the NHK Trophy when we got completely hammered on sake.”

He snorted. “That was a fucking great night, yeah. I don’t remember, like, anything past ten thirty that night.”

“You’ve got me beat, then. I think my memory goes at around nine? Although really it’s all sort of a blur from the Kiss and Cry on.” Thinking of happier competitions was a good distraction, but quickly enough she was pulled back to her skates. “I’m sorry this shit had to happen tonight. That it had to happen here. We both worked so hard…”

“Better tonight than at the last minute,” He interrupted with a tease, tugging on the loose french braid he’d managed. “It’s not your fault. We’re here. We’re Olympians already. Like, yeah, I want a big shiny medal, but there’s always next time if worst comes to worst.”

Lucretia rolled her eyes. She carefully put the laptop on the floor and then rolled over to have a proper conversation with him. “If it were Worlds or whatever, I’d agree with you. There’s always next season. But we gotta keep our shit together for another four years if we want a next Olympics.” They were young, sure. But so much could happen between now and then. Injuries, tragedies, drama. She saw more scenarios of them falling apart than she saw of them staying together. “I promise I’m gonna get this back on track. We didn’t get this far for me to whine about my feet hurting in new skates.”

“You can whine about your feet hurting and still skate, silly.” He tapped the tip of her nose and she snapped her teeth at him in response. “We’ve kept our shit together for three years so far. I’m up for another four if you are.”

Lucretia smiled softly. “I’m fully planning on continuing to skate until I physically can’t anymore. And I’d be over the moon to get to do it with you.”

“Same. Follow one dream to its end and then become an awesome vet or shelter owner or whatever. And you’ll become a bestselling author or a journalist or whatever. And then someday, we’ll teach our kids to skate.” But that was looking too far ahead. Focus, Magnus reminded himself.

Lucretia snickered at his tangent. “You’re right, though. Even if this fucks us over and we don’t even make it past the short program, we’re still here. We’re still Olympians.”

“We can’t lay here freaking about what might or might not happen. We just gotta go for it, you know? Leave it all on the ice. Give it all we’ve got.”

“You sound like a bad hockey movie.”

“Bad skating movie.”

“Nope. Specifically a hockey movie.”

“Stop accusing me of knowing how to play hockey.”

“Magnus, you were on a peewee hockey team for two years.”

“Do you really think that elementary schoolers know how to play hockey?”

Lucretia just laughed, deep in her belly. Magnus quickly joined her. When they settled, Magnus was on his back with Lucretia’s head on his chest, gently rubbing her back. She closed her eyes, going into her imagination. “After I retire and then make my millions with my bestselling books, I think I’d like to open my own rink. Figure out where there’s a need for one, get it built.”

Magnus hummed. “Unless I kill my ankles or something, I’d love to help. Get some kids skating that otherwise wouldn’t get a chance to be on the ice.”

“Exactly.”

“You’ve got the best ideas, you know that? Way better than my plan.” It was a way for them to keep doing what they loved even after they retired.

“Sounds like I’m stuck with you forever no matter what we do, hm?”

“Not if you keep accusing me of hockey.”

That earned another chuckle from Lucretia. “You’d be good at teaching kids, Mags. Like, really good. Can’t imagine anyone who’d be better at talking little ones back onto the ice after their first big falls.”

He didn’t know how to reply for a moment, his throat suddenly dry. “I, uh. I could take the younger ones, yeah. But you’d be good at getting ‘em to fix the detail stuff. Your jumps are always cleaner than mine.”

“Stick and carrot.” She hummed and started idly brushing the hair away from his face with her fingers. “Sounds like we almost make two halves of a decent coach.”

“Well, you only really need one.” Magnus reached out and caught her hand, idly lacing their fingers and dropping them onto his chest. He fell asleep quickly, but Lucretia took longer. She stared at the wall for some time, eventually letting his even breathing fade out the world around her.


	3. Shopping

Lucretia woke up first in the morning, softly pulling herself from their tangle of limbs and passing out to the living room. She spent the time she’d normally use for a morning jog doing research on sports supply shops in the area. She even texted a few of the local skaters she knew from competitions, earning some teasing about how shops were not really what the city wanted to show off but still getting a good address. She waited until her chosen shop was open before she even thought about waking Magnus. A glass of cold water in hand, she slowly walked into the room. “Up and at ‘em, big guy.”

Magnus was sprawled out on his stomach across most of the bed, one of Lucretia’s pillows tucked under his arm. He blinked blearily at Lucretia at the sound of her voice, but quickly buried his face back into the pillows at the light in the room. “What time ’s it?”

“Bit after nine.” 

“Too early.” 

Lucretia laughed. She put the water down on the nightstand and went to his bag, searching through until she found a bottle of painkillers. “Found a decent sports shop not far from here. Longish walk or a quick cab ride, depending on what your hangover is up for.”

Magnus hummed and rolled over onto his back with a sigh. “It’s fine either way. Your skates. Just need to hydrate and get some food and stuff.” 

She handed him the bottle and smiled a bit. “You focus on getting out of bed. I’m gonna head down to the dining hall. I’ll text you if they say I can bring you back up some eggs.”

Magnus flipped the lid off the pills and took three, sitting up just enough to take them with a gulp of water. “You’re the best. Now leave me to die.”

“No dying. Still need to you toss me around.” She teasingly blew him a kiss and walked out. 

* * *

 

Lucretia texted Davenport on her way down to breakfast, determining whether he and Merle were up and where they were sitting. She got both answers as she was at the oatmeal station adding cinnamon. She made her way over, giving them a nervous smile as she sat down. 

Merle instantly clapped her shoulder. “How you feeling this morning, girlie?”

“Better than Magnus, as far as that counts. What’s the news?”

Davenport sighed. “I went down and talked to security this morning. They pulled the tapes. Thief’s face was covered with a ski mask.”

Merle piped up then. “Fucking sucks we’re in one of the few places where a balaclava isn’t immediately suspicious.”

Lucretia hummed in agreement and then waited for Davenport to continue. The man rubbed his neck. “They had a key to the room somehow.”

Lucretia’s eyebrows shot up at that. “I thought only you and us had keys to the room, though?”

Davenport raised his hands helplessly. “That’s what I thought, too. Security’s trying to puzzle that one out. In the meantime, they’re calling a locksmith to change out the locks on your door this morning. Make sure that there are only three keys.”

Lucretia pursed her lips. “Mags and I were planning on heading out and picking up some new skates this morning. Will it be a problem that we’re out?”

Davenport shook his head. “Drop your stuff off in my room before you leave and I’ll supervise the lock change. Get the keys and give them to you guys when you’re back.”

Merle frowned at her. “You sure about breaking in new skates, Lucretia? That would be rough even if we were scheduled just before closing ceremonies. You’ve got a week to break those puppies in.”

She sighed. “I’m aware of that. My only other pair is at home, and they haven’t been sharpened in more than five years. They’re probably rusty. Not to mention they probably don’t fit.”

Davenport nodded slowly, considering her options. “Just…keep the injury to a minimum, alright?” He started ticking things off on his fingers. “Spend the extra money on heat fitting. If you’ve got time before this afternoon, douse them with water and put them on over a couple pairs of socks. And I know it’ll annoy the hell out of you, but during practice, I am going to make you relace every few minutes on the ice. It’s how to get them fitted the quickest.”

Lucretia just nodded along. Those were all tricks that she’d used before, though not all at once. “You’re going to be there for practice, though?”

Davenport waved a hand at her. “Of course. Just saying because I might be a few minutes late. Depends on where I set up. You’re going to need a score cushion.”

Lucretia sighed and ran a hand over her hair. “We’re changing the routine then. A week out.” Davenport just gave her a look that said everything she needed to know about how crazy this was. “Let’s get to work, then.”

* * *

 

It took Magnus at least fifteen minutes just to finish the glass of water and push himself out of bed. A hot shower helped, and putting on clean clothes helped more. He was still rubbing a towel through his hair when Lucretia returned with a decent sized bowl of scrambled eggs. “Have I ever told you how much I love you? Because you’re an angel.”

Lucretia just chuckled and went for her laptop, not saying anything just yet. Magnus raised an eyebrow. That wasn’t a good sign. “You talk with Dav?”

She made a confirming noise that confirmed for Magnus that she was thinking. He started eating, leaning against the table rather than sitting down. “He talked to security this morning. Tape was useless except for learning they had access to the room key. They’re changing the locks while we’re out.”

“Damn it.” Magnus shook his head in disappointment. “Okay, what’s the game plan, then?”

“New skates. And a score cushion.” She finally looked up at him.

He paused as well, mulling it over. “We can manage that. We’ll be fine.”

Lucretia managed a bit of a smile. “Always the optimist.”

“I gotta be, with you and Dav.” He rinsed the bowl and set it aside when he was done and then walked over to look at her screen. “Where’re we headed?”

She pointed on Google Maps for him. “It’s not an awful walk. Not spectacular either, but shorter than I’d normally go on a morning jog. But we can get a cab if you’re not up for it just yet.”

Magnus sighed. It wasn’t terrible, and the Advil was helping. “Walk’ll get the blood pumping. And we can do a bit more sightseeing on the way.” He glanced at her with concern. “Not worried about the media, are you?”

“I wasn’t until you brought it up.”

“Oops.” Magnus shrugged sheepishly.

She just shook her head. “Finish up getting dressed and we’ll get going. I’ll just put on some sunglasses or something.”

He looked at her in concern but obeyed. Soon enough, they were bundled up and heading out into the cold. There weren’t too many reporters outside the village, luckily. Most of them must be at some event, they supposed. They took in the city around them, Magnus snapping a few pictures of interesting sights to post on social media later. Lucretia didn’t speak until they were a few blocks into the walk, waiting at a crosswalk. “You know what’s weird to me? The timing of that asshole. Like, they came in after you changed, yeah? They couldn’t have known how long it was going to take me to get my food, right? If they were going to break in, why not do it during the ceremony when they knew nobody would be walking in?

He looked back to her as they crossed the street, mulling that over. “Yeah. No, you’re right. That’s weird. Maybe they couldn’t do it during the ceremony?”

She nodded. “Exactly what I was thinking. Couldn’t’ve been a spur of the moment thing, since they got our key and hid their face from the cameras. They had to have been at the ceremony or they would have done it then.” Neither of them were detectives, she admitted to herself. They were just speculating. But the details of all this were itching under her skin. “I can’t think of anyone who would want to sabotage us, though. We’re pretty friendly with everyone ranked close enough for us to stand a decent chance, yeah?”

Magnus nodded along in agreement, but then stopped suddenly in the middle of the sidewalk. Lucretia stopped as well as she bumped into his arm. “Lucy, what if we aren’t the only ones? What if it was someone ranked not quite close enough to have a chance?" It was kind of a conspiracy, but definitely possible. He chewed on his lower lip for a second, then realized they weren't alone on the sidewalk and started off again. "I mean, think about it. Isn't it more likely than someone who works in maintenance or security?"

Lucretia frowned. "But we would know if someone had gone around and stole a bunch of people's skates. As far as I could tell with our timing, they called security really quickly so they probably wouldn't have had a chance to do anything else. Plus, Davenport and Merle would've heard from other coaches that they're friends with, or they would have gotten the impression from security that there was a pattern." She sighed. "Don't get me wrong, Mags. My gut is telling me against maintenance too. But..."

"Ugh, fine. Boring. So it's personal." Magnus glanced up as he something brushed the top of his head. A fresh dusting of snow had started. Lucretia followed his gaze and put the hood of her jacket up before it could wet her hair. He hummed as he thought through their options. "So another coach or official. Someone who can get copies of the keys. What the hell do we do with that?" Probably nothing. Think about if they'd ever offended anyone? Wait for a ransom note?

She slipped her hands in her pockets. "I don't know. Dav just said to keep it under wraps for now since we don't know who did it."

"Okay. You're right. We trust Dav." The man had been to the Olympics many more times than they had, both as a skater and a coach. He usually knew what to do in weird competition situations. Magnus just couldn't help but be frustrated. It was maddening to sit around and basically do nothing to actually fix the situation. Sure, they were buying new skates and it wasn't the end of the world, but it was a major setback. He was definitely going to be carrying Lucretia around before long. New skates were a bitch even if you were breaking them in gently, and she’d be wandering around in them as much as possible. “You thinking you’ll be on the ice with the new skates this afternoon?”

“I’m planning on it.” She shrugged. “I can’t just skip practice. I’m thinking I’ll cut the jumps today. Probably focus on spins, actually. They’ll loosen up the leather. After our ice time, I’ll just head to the training floor in them with guards on. Maybe find a spot and do some yoga or do some stair climbing. Basically, wear them until I can’t stand it anymore.”

Magnus furrowed his brow. He knew she would probably push herself far beyond that point if he didn’t keep an eye on her. “Until you need me to give you a piggyback ride back to our room and lecture you about not making your feet bleed, you mean?"

She rolled her eyes. “May not even reach that point. You know Dav’s going to be watching me like a hawk for injuries. But you can probably guess that my personal opinion is that if I can walk tonight, I haven’t done enough."

He squinted at her, doing his best to radiate disapproval. But in the end, he rolled his eyes. "Just default to The Captain's wisdom and I'll go along with it. I think he's been meaning to do some last minute isolated work with me for the side-by-side jumps anyway. So that'll be a good way to use the ice time." 

They finally came up to the shop and glanced at each other nervously. Actually shopping for the shoes made the situation real. They were buying new skates, and they'd be on international TV skating at the Olympics next week. Lucretia took a deep breath and pushed inside first. Other than a slight language barrier between them and the clerk, things went smoothly. They had her normal brand and size in stock. Really, what took the longest was having them molded to her feet.

While she sat with the hot shoes on, she gave Magnus a list of other items she needed to be replaced to grab. A large supply of moleskin donuts, liquid bandages, extra thick socks, a new bag. He came back with neon green leg warmers, holding them up with a smile. "How closely do you think Dav is going to look at the receipt when he writes this out as competition expenses?"

Lucretia laughed. "I'll pay for them if he doesn't want to comp them. They're cute." She removed the skates and the clerk took them back to be bladed and sharpened. While waiting, she grabbed a new water bottle with an Olympics design as well. She winced slightly at the total she put on her skating credit card, but she didn't comment or let Magnus see. It was a necessity. Davenport would help her pay it back. She knew he would.

Magnus grabbed the shopping bag off the counter, leading to a look of confusion from Lucretia. "If the media sees it might confuse them if it looks like my shit got taken." Did it matter, in the bigger picture? Not really. But would it make him feel better if he could shield her from some of the media attention? A little bit, and that was worth it to him.

She chuckled slightly and hip-checked him on the way out. "Come on. Let's get back to the room and grab your stuff. We can check out the arena while we warm up." They shared a grin a that, trying their best to ignore their nerves and return to their previous enthusiasm.

* * *

 

They saw a locksmith truck parked out front of the village, so they immediately went up to Davenport and Merle's room rather than their own. Lucretia had just been expecting to need to grab the new key. She was caught between a laugh and a wince when she saw the two coaches playing cards, Magnus' bag underneath the table. It hadn’t even occurred to her to be worried that his things might be stolen during the locks change. She quickly decided not to comment on it, though. Instead, she let Davenport inspect the skates she’d bought.

He hummed in approval as he looked them over. “If there are still any pressure points day after tomorrow, go get them punched out.” 

She opened her mouth to protest, but Merle interrupted her before she could. “You know as well as I do that’s non-negotiable.”

Davenport’s lips twitched up in a smile, but he quickly shook his head back to serious. You're getting reimbursed on these, anyway. I'd rather them be a touch looser than you'd normally like that for Magnus to have to carry you off the ice while the world's watching."

"I could carry her off the ice and make it look like I'm just excited if it comes to that." Magnus piped up helpfully from the couch. "The gossip rags would be all over it and nobody would be any wiser for it." Sure, it might feed into the press surrounding the nature of their relationship. And sure, Davenport was absolutely right about her needing to have the leather forcefully stretched if it was still bothering her. But it would be preferable to admitting she was competing at the Olympics in new skates if she was really that stubborn. 

He got a look from Davenport. "Don't encourage her." Merle snorted and Lucretia crossed her arms, entirely not pouting. Davenport sighed. "Lucretia. You'll be fine as long as you don't hurt yourself too badly breaking these skated in. The program is airtight from a technical standpoint. Even if we reduce the levels of a few jumps, you’re making it through to the final no matter what.”

Lucretia rolled her eyes. “If we do that, we’d practically have a set a world record in the free program.” With that comment, the room went dead silent. All eyes were on Lucretia, and the tension was palpable.

Davenport laced his fingers on the table, leveling his eyes at her. “You’re still trying to medal? After this?”

Lucretia was just looking to Magnus to confirm that they were on the same page when he piped up. “Who says we can’t? Creesh can still skate well without hurting herself in the new skates, I know she can. We can do a harder lift in the free if need be, Dav.” His brow was furrowed, confused and worried about Davenport’s reaction. It had never occurred to either of them that this meant to stop striving for the medal stand. That was clear enough to Davenport as he looked between them.

Lucretia watched the coach for a moment. “You didn’t think we’d just give up, did you? I’m sure there’s a way we can still pull off bronze.”

Davenport was still in shock, so Merle put his clapped a hand on his shoulder and filled the expectant silence. “Nobody said you were quitting. I think we both just forgot for a moment that this one pouts every time she doesn’t beat her personal best.” He waved a hand at Lucretia.

She gave a sheepish smirk. “That’s the point of it, in my opinion.”

After a long moment, Davenport finally spoke. “You two catch the next shuttle to the arena. I’ll meet you there in a bit. I need to do some math on these programs. If I’m not there before your ice time, warm up with the step sequences. No jumps. Spins if you get to the point of wanting to actually run things.” He sat up a bit straighter in his chair, pointing a finger at Lucretia. “Ten-minute intervals. Set a timer. Every time it goes off, head to the side and completely re-lace. Every other time, they come completely off and you get moleskins on any friction spots. You got it?” Lucretia nodded slowly. Magnus started snickering until Davenport turned the finger to him. “You’re in charge of enforcement until I get there. If she’s not following that, you’re in trouble too.”

Magnus gave him a slightly nervous smile and nodded. “No jumps, bully Lucy into not dying. Got it.” He stood up and shouldered his bag. “See you there!” Once they were out of the room, he offered a closed fist to Lucretia.

She looked at it for a moment before bumping hers against his, smiles spreading across both their faces. They were going to pull this off, they both could feel it. They just needed to find the balance between pushing themselves and keeping Lucretia healthy.


	4. Ice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning - from this chapter on, there is some discussion and description of injuries. 90% of it is blisters, but they get fairly severe in future chapters and there is some mention of blood.

Magnus couldn’t help his small gasp as they got off the bus at the ice rink. Lucretia was in a similar state of awe. They stopped for a minute just to look up at the facility. They’d known it would be state of the art, they’d heard news stories about it. But there was nothing like looking up at the smooth lines and clean architecture; to hear the hum of the air conditioning even from the outside and smell the scent of freshly laid ice. Finally, Lucretia grinned and grabbed Magnus’ hand to tug him inside. The chill that hit them as they walked in visibly relaxed both of them. For all this was new and exciting, this was their element. It seemed even bigger from inside. They quickly found the locker rooms and peeled off from each other. When they met back up, they were both in warm sweats. Lucretia was in her skates with guards whereas Magnus was still in athletic shoes and carrying his skates. She gave him a twitch of a smile. “Let’s just explore for a bit. Warm up the leather.”

Magnus nodded. “Sounds good to me. Warm up the leather and make this place a bit less scary. Hm?”

She laughed in agreement. A rink was a rink, but this was definitely more intimidating than Nationals or Worlds had been. They set off, walking swiftly enough to get their heart rates up but not too quickly for Lucretia to manage balancing on her guards. Really, it ended up being Magnus’ normally walking speed.

They were on the sub-level. Outside the locker rooms, there was the practice rink and a fairly large cross-training gym and lounge. On the other side of the floor was an entrance to the medical bay. Lucretia glanced through the doorways a bit too curiously, knowing but not accepting that she’d be spending some time there. On the main floor was a figure skating rink, which was also used for short track speed skating, and a track for standard speed skating (Magnus made a mental note of where the best seats were for when they came for Carey’s heats).

Eventually, they made their way to the main rink, where they were scheduled for the day. As Magnus put his skates on, Lucretia re-laced hers. “Nothing crazy about the fit so far,” She commented as she adjusted the tightness of the laces over the toe box. “That’s probably good. I’m going to tape the balls of me feet before we head on, though. I can feel it rubbing next to my big toe.”

“Good. Excellent. Love the forward thinking.” He tried to be encouraging, but only got a disparaging look from her. “It’s better than shredding your toes.” Lucretia rolled her eyes and got to work on her feet. She peeled her socks off and started wrapping medical tape to cover the areas where her skin was already visibly chafing. She couldn’t help but wince at the injuries it forebode. She glanced up at Magnus to see if he had seen. He was a few feet away at the other end of the bench, stretching. She finished up and he was smiling as he stepped over to the gate and gestured for her to be the first to step out onto the ice. They took a slow lap around the arena, taking in everything. The ice was smooth as glass. The permanently mounted cameras seemed to be a constant audience in the otherwise empty space.

Magnus looked up at the empty seats that seemed to rise forever. Next week, they’d be full. For better or worse, they’d be out on the ice with a pair of eyes from every one of those seats on them. “This feels…it’s a really good stadium, Creesh.”

Lucretia hummed in agreement. She didn’t know what to say beyond that. She was far too focused on what she needed to do to think about the stadium itself anymore. "Where do you want to start? I mean, obviously step sequences, but short or free?"

Magnus took a few breaths of the frigid air the center himself and then looked back to her. "Let's go in order. Just run them straight through without anything. Sound like a plan?" She nodded in agreement, and they got started. 

 

It was actually jarring to run their programs without any elements at all. They hadn't isolated the steps since the beginning of the season. They just seemed to come so naturally. Between that and the new stadium, something just felt off to Lucretia. When the timer on her phone went off partway through the free program, she didn't bother to protest stopping in the middle. She just skated over to the gate and sat down to relace. Magnus frowned at her, but he kept going from where he was in the program when she waved at him.

She watched him, face frozen into a look of determination even as her stomach sank with each jump. She wondered if there was something wrong with her. Magnus didn’t seem to be this affected by the new locale, so it had to be her. Was it the new skates? Were they sharpened differently, perhaps? Davenport hadn't seemed to notice anything. Before she knew it, her skates were laced and back on. She hadn’t checked for any new blisters. Oops. She lapped the rink as he finished "Sorry." She said as they met up. "My head's all weird. I think the new skates are throwing off my muscle memory."

“You’re all good.” Magnus smiled. "Let's see if adding the music helps, yeah?" He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the tracks. It wasn't very loud, and the quality wasn't good through his pants, but it was better. Lucretia kept re-lacing, working hard to follow orders and do what she needed to. 

They shifted into position as the count-off beats started. She tried to focus on the music, on Magnus, on the story they'd put together for the program. She tried to just drop the weight of her concerns, to ignore the pinch of her feet whenever she turned. It was clear just from her expression that she wasn't completely losing herself. In fact, Magnus thought she looked uncomfortable. But she was trying. The empty beats where they glided through where the jumps should be still felt awkward, but they weren't as bad as without all the elements. He just smiled at her through them, nodding to the beat. She was fine, right up until she wasn't.

They smoothly transitioned into the death spiral, neither of them worried at all. They’d done it a thousand times before. She laid back and let his motion swing her out. She had it, he thought. At the last second, the blade of her skate skidded out from under her. They managed to save her head from hitting the ice, both reaching for each other with their free hands at the same second for safety. Her hip was not so lucky, audibly crashing down into the ice with speed. Magnus managed to dig in enough to stop in the next second. “Shit! Luce, you okay?” She didn’t reply. She got up before the allotted time for the element was over and continued on. Magnus’ jaw dropped, but he quickly corrected himself and caught up with her to finish the program.

She skated off when they were done without a word, taking off the skates and taking a minute to sip some water. Magnus came over to the gate more slowly, leaning against the wall next to it. “That wasn’t bad for new skates. Seriously, our step sequence is on point. I’m loving the placement on this new ice.”

Lucretia hummed noncommittally and handed Magnus’ water bottle to him. “Yeah…” She said after a moment. Positives. She had to think of what was good about that run. "Yeah. The unison was good. Precise. And you're right, the placement is well-suited to this arena." She leaned back and pulled at the band of her pants, inspecting her hip. "Hit right on the front where the bone is. I don't think it's going to bruise, but I'll be sleeping on the other side tonight."

"Good." He winced. "Well, not good. But better than it bruising."

She let the elastic snap back into place and then focused on her skates. She actually pulled the laces completely out and restrung them to give her a few extra moments. Magnus just watched her. He didn't want to push, but he wanted to know how she was feeling. When she glanced up at him, he raised his eyebrows to ask her as much. She sighed. "That wasn't an element I expected to fuck up." She finally admitted just loudly enough for him to hear. "In fact, up until now, I was sure we could bring the revolutions up for max points."

He shook his head, smiling softly. "Hey, new skates are weird. I'm sure we'll do better next time. We can probably still upgrade it." He took a sip of water. "You're not the only one who messed up on that run, either. I nearly fumbled out of the pair spin. That's actually my bad. Yours is just equipment error." He winked.

"Right." Lucretia rolled her eyes. "To bad the ISU doesn't agree with you, points-wise." Magnus sighed. She finished lacing the skates and got up, circling out her arms. “Let’s do the spins with transitions a couple times. We’re good at finishing together, but they’re a bit off beat.”

That brought a hopeful smirk back to his lips. “You saw that?”

“You know me. I see everything. ESP for mistakes.” She was just barely smiling herself.

“Perfectionism isn’t a mystical power, Lucy.” He was more than used to how she tended to know the program a little too well and stress herself out over nothing. She would sometimes come off the ice at competition lamenting about small mistakes that the judges ended up not noticing at all. Davenport had seen her turn multiple partners into nervous wrecks up until she’d met her match with Magnus’ unending optimism.

They glided out to the center, Lucretia resting her hands on Magnus’ waist as they came to a stop. He threaded his fingers and pressed his palms up to stretch out his arms. “Go from the sit spin?”

“Absolutely.” She pulled his phone out of his pocket and started searching through to find the moment in the music they needed. “Well, from the transition. But same thing. Transition, into the pair spin, transition. And when we’re done drilling this, I want to nail that spiral.”

“Spiral is next on the list, promise.” Magnus drew a quick X over his chest, crossing his heart.

Lucretia chuckled and handed his phone back. With a few measures introduction, they were off. As they isolated elements, she seemed to relax more. She started interacting with Magnus instead of just relying on muscle memory, although she wasn’t quite in character. She was too intense, too brooding, too visibly tense for the jazzy, upbeat music of their short program. But it was getting better. They were both feeling better.

The end of their second full run through of the short program was punctuated with clapping. They turned to see the source was Davenport, who had arrived partway through. “Lucretia, I think if you push off into lifts any harder, you’re going to just knock Magnus over.”

“I’d consider that an accomplishment,” She instantly quipped back without a second thought as they started skating over to where he was standing.

“Would you two please have more faith in me? As if Lucy can just push me over.”

“The girl has legs like a jackrabbit, Burnsides. She could take you out if she wanted to.”

“Fine. Mutually assured destruction, then.”

Through all the joking, Lucretia got the message. Even with all her progress, she was tense and forceful with her movements. They slipped their blade guards on and joined Davenport on the bench as he pulled out his computer to walk them through the adjustments he’d made to the programs. It was nothing unexpected to either of them, considering they knew they were going for points. They were backloading the jumps, adjusting the transitions to make them more difficult, making sure all the spins and spirals were at maximum level. Magnus questioned a few things from a logistics with the music standpoint, but it was nothing crazy, really.

Lucretia was just listening quietly, her eyes scanning the spreadsheet of score calculations as she pictured the programs in her head. When he was done, she gave a thoughtful hum. “I think we can turn the first twist in the free into a quad.” Once again, the energy in the room stopped in its tracks for her ambition. She shrugged at Davenport’s shocked look. “We’ve landed it before, messing around in practice. It’s something we can improve no matter how fucked up my feet get. Mags just has to throw me real high.”

Magnus considered that. It wouldn’t be the biggest change they were making, but it would be the most difficult. Doing a quad twist lift was hard enough by itself, but they’d have to do it quick enough to fit into the time of the triple. “I can certainly toss her.” He flexed, earning a chuckle from the other two.

Davenport looked between the two of them, a glint in his eye. “You have a point, I suppose. About being able to do it with blisters.” He picked up the laptop and looked over the numbers as he thought through how best to train this quickly. “Keep it to the triple for this practice.” Before either of them could complain, he put up a finger to stop them. “Then, you’ll take a lunch break and have the docs downstairs look at Lucretia’s feet. And then you’ll spend the afternoon on the mats down in cross-training.”

Magnus broke out in a wide grin. “Now that’s a plan. I’ll stack them up real thick, too.” Once Lucretia’s skates were back on again, he tugged her to her feet. This was just the energy boost they both needed. “Are we doing a run through first, or isolating?”

“Run the free, then the short. Unless there’s a major issue, we’ll be doing runs for this practice. I want you kids to have some gas left in the tank for later.” Lucretia had to agree with that. She knew the soreness of practicing twists. Being tossed in the air was probably the most fun part of pairs, but she knew her core and hips would be aching in the morning just as much as her feet. She didn’t even want to imagine the burn in Magnus’ arms. “Goal for this practice is to get the new arrangements down. Lucretia, just re-lace after each run.”

“Can do.”

Magnus looked over the arrangement one more time, both making sure his memorization was there and giving himself another chance to stretch his shoulders and neck. Despite Lucretia’s excellent care, Drunk Magnus had not slept in the best position, chiropractically speaking. With that, they glided out onto the ice. Davenport hooked his computer up to the speaker system and with the first beats, they were off.

It took a few runs to get used to the new programs, both of them had to admit. But strangely having to think about the order brought new life to it. It was familiar, but not too familiar. They listened to the music more. Lucretia started sinking into the choreography and the flow, finding those little crevasses of creativity where they could bring in that spark of fun they had when they were just messing around.

Whenever she was pulled off to relace and bandage, Dav kept Magnus going, working on the solo jumps. They all knew that loading the program like this made it more of an endurance game. Davenport pushed them both as much as he could, given the circumstances. They worked right up until Lucretia couldn’t. 

She pulled off her skate a bit too forcefully. The tape made her sock stick to the skate and in turn rip one of her blisters as she pulled. She hissed softly, catching Davenport's attention looked away from Magnus. "Gentle now..."

Magnus glanced up as he went into a spiral, looking for approval on his stance. He frowned as he noticed the coach over by Lucretia, and ended up coming out of the maneuver too fast and losing his balance. He let himself just continue forward onto his knees, landing and sliding a distance. "I'm good!" He declared, quickly getting to his feet and making his way over. He leaned against the wall. "I didn't look unsteady when I land, did I? The toe loop feels awkward, so I think there's something else..." He stopped when he noticed that she was holding a tissue to a spot on her foot. "So that's practice for the day, huh?"

Davenport sighed and got up to hand him his guards so that he could come through the gate and fuss over Lucretia as well. "I'll be honest, I missed the landing."

"You were looking good to me, Mags." She gave him her best optimistic smile, trying to assuage his worry."

"Well, if the perfectionist says I'm good, then there's nothing to worry about." He nudged her shoulder. "Lemme get my skates off and I'll piggyback you to medical."

"Catch your breath first." She chuckled.  "Are your knees alright?"

He nodded, although his fingers were working quickly on his skates. "I think I got a bit of a scrape, but that's nothing. I'll get a bandaid while we're getting your feet iced. He was glad for the breather, though. While he felt amazing, it had been a long and tough practice. "You're getting a lot of piggyback rides from here out, missy. You'd better get used to it."

"I'm looking forward to it." She earned a fist bump for that.

They debriefed with Davenport while Magnus caught his breath and drank some water and packed up their things. They were actually in pretty decent shape, all things considered. Most of the notes were minor enough that they could easily get knocked out the next day. "All jokes aside, kids. Lucretia, after this afternoon's training I want those feet off the ground as much as possible. Order delivery on the skating card and take a nap. You guys have evening ice tomorrow at five and I want at least one full run of the free with the quad twist. Oh, and there should be lunch for your downstairs in the fridge in the lounge. Merle made a run for us since Taako's down in the practice rink now anyway." When he couldn't think of anything else to go over, he dismissed them.

Lucretia slipped her socks back on carefully and took the bag with all their stuff from Magnus, slinging it over her body. "Come on, big guy. Let's go get me disinfected and iced down."

"And fed. Don't forget fed."

He made sure Lucretia was ready and then squatted down in front of her. She climbed up easily, his arms under her knees and her arms around his neck. Once she was situated, they both said goodbye to Davenport and set off down the stairs. It was a bit slow going. Stairs weren't made to be used by someone carrying someone else. But they made it fine and Magnus was able to put her down on one of the exam tables and leave her feet to the medics. While she was getting bandaged up, Magnus took a few disinfectant wipes and a large bandage for himself and rolled his pant leg up. As expected, his leg was a bit bloody from the split skin on his knee. It wasn't so bad and wasn't even bleeding anymore. He cleaned it up easily and relaxed to watch Lucretia getting treated.

Her feet weren't bloody except for the one spot, but her feet also weren't looking so good. She had the beginnings of blisters on what looked like the entire edge of her feet. She had laid back and put headphones on to distract herself from the stinging pain as much as possible. But with thickly wrapped gauze, even thicker socks from her bag, and some numbing spray, she was able to walk slowly with Magnus over to the small kitchen area in the lounge. Magnus had hoped, with Merle being the one to pick up their food, that it would be something cool. Salads and protein shakes were decidedly not cool, but he supposed that they were alright considering they needed the muscle repair badly. Lucretia propped her feet up on a second chair and picked at the salad, mostly eating the chicken and the tomatoes. "You know what's kind of crazy with the tweaked program?"

He looked up, a mouth full of shake.

"If we actually pull everything off to at the top level, we would mathematically beat our best by quite a bit."

"Yeah?" Magnus tilted his head in curiosity and took a large mouthful of lettuce. "That'd be a real kicker for whoever did it. Can you imagine? They tried to screw us over and instead we shatter our record?" 

She grinned. "That would feel so good, Magnus." There was a hint of a moan on the edge of her voice just imagining it. 

"Right?" That was a satisfying thought and was right in line with his optimism and her perfectionism. It was a good goal to set, in his opinion. Of course, they both knew it was less up to their skills and more up to her to keep from injuring herself too badly for the jumps. The extra points were padding for injury, but they both couldn't help but be wistful at what would be the peak of their career so far.

As they ate, a few other skaters they knew came up and greeted them, asking about her bandaged feet. She didn't tell anyone about the theft or the new skates, not wanting to start the rumor train back up. So the conversations mostly ended up being jokes at her expense for working too hard. She took mental note of who all approached. It didn't help much; it seemed that everyone who came up didn't seem to know any more than they should and they were all people they tended to spend time with at international competitions. As the last person finally wandered off to the showers, she looked at Magnus. "What if it wasn't an actual pair who did it? What if it was just someone acting on their behalf without their approval."

Magnus hummed. His food was mostly gone save a few bites of lettuce. "That seems more likely, to be honest. We're all competitive, but I really think everyone has a good rapport this year in pairs." He chuckled as a thought occurred to him. "IF it was a coach, just imagine what Dav will do to them. I hear he's got a mean right hook. My wild theory is on those fucking judges from Nationals a couple years back...Edward and Lydia whatever. Who scored us real low. Taako was saying on the plane that they're here as media consultants."

Lucretia's fork clattered onto the table in shock. "That...is not so wild. If I'd known they were here, I would have brought it up earlier."

"It's pretty wild.” Magnus raised his eyebrows as Lucretia picked up her phone and started to text Davenport the new information. They both could remember the incident clearly. 

Their skate had felt so good that Magnus had damn near picked Lucretia up and spun her in a circle when the applause started. Dav was telling them as they walked over to the Kiss & Cry that the commentators were saying they’d made it to the podium for sure. It was like a kick to the gut when their score was read and it was nearly five points below their season’s worst. Before the cameras were even off them, Dav was off to the judging table to get the scoring protocol and file a dispute. Lydia and Edward had scored them as low as they reasonably could in any area where there was personal interpretation available to the judge, and they had been able to defend their choices. Still, they were never invited to judge at another competition because of the controversy.

Magnus sighed and rubbed his forehead. Maybe they’d find the bag. If this was a real lead, maybe the bag was still in the village. “Five bucks says they put someone up to it if it was them.”

“I’ll take that bet.” Lucretia gulped down the dregs of her shake. “As much as it makes my skin crawl to imagine them in our room, I absolutely think they’re the type to do it themselves.” Having some sort of lead make her feel so much better. Especially because it made the method make so much more sense. She hadn’t been able to imagine why the person hadn’t just made it look like a normal robbery by taking more stuff. This had Edward and Lydia written all over it. 

“I dunno. They also seem like they’d want to cover their asses. If they get someone else to do it, there’s no real proof it was them, you know?” He collected their garbage and went to throw it out. 

Lucretia just shrugged. “We’ll see.” She got to her feet, rocking a bit on her heels to find a way to walk comfortably. Her phone buzzed just then with a curt confirmation from Davenport that he was looking into it. “Even if it’s not them, they’re a good thing to have in mind for twist practice. Put all that pissed-off energy into trying to throw me.”

“You don’t want me to think too much about them or I’ll end up throwing you right into the wall, Lucy.” Without further comment, he bent down and scooped Lucretia up in his arms, carrying her over towards the mats. She rolled her eyes, but wrapped her arms around his neck for support and allowed it anyway. With a bit of direction from staff, they found the matted area and were able to lay out extras. They both got to work stretching out again. “So if we can pull off the quad,” Lucretia let out a sigh as a sore spot in her neck cracked. “I think we should put it as our first lift. It’ll be a nice effect. Wake the crowd and judges up and give us the energy to ride through.”

“That would be a power move, that’s for sure.” Magnus grinned at that as he got to his feet. “And it would be easier for me to do it sooner rather than later anyway.” Once she was on her feet as well, they got into position. 


	5. History

Practicing twists on the mat was a simple and familiar exercise, everything considered. Lucretia stepped up into his arm, he tossed her, and they stepped through the ending. Over and over. Within half an hour, Magnus’ arms and Lucretia’s core were burning. Her hips were aching as much as her feet from the force of his hands. Getting her the right amount of airtime was the most difficult thing, but they were working on it. Their muscle memory for landing an under-rotated throw without hurting themselves was there more than perhaps anything else they did. It took them about an hour to get into a rhythm of having mostly successful tosses. They upped the difficulty as they did, stepping through more of the transition and having Magnus step through the toss since he would be moving on the ice.

Finally, they both called it for the day when Magnus’ arms started shaking. They both laid down on the mats to cool down, letting the ache settle. “Damn, Mags. I may have to rework my bit about your stamina for interviews. Saying you can toss me around all night long may not cut it anymore.”

“Do you ever think that wording like that is why they keep trying to ask if we’re an item yet?”

“That’s the point, dear.” She rolled over onto her stomach and patted his chest affectionately. “I live for them thinking that we have enough goddamn time to have a proper relationship.”

“What’s time? I don’t know her.” They both laughed. “What would you rework it to, anyway? I can throw you around all day long? I’ve got good thrusting power? I’ve got the best stamina of any partner you’ve ever had and it’s awesome?”

“Mm, I like that last one. Do you think it’s a bit too on-the-nose? I’d hate for it to get cut from their articles for being too sexy.”

“I think if you deadpan it, you’ll be okay. Just try to sound all sweet and innocent and stuff with it. Like you don’t know it’s an innuendo.”

Lucretia sat up and went over to their stuff, tossing Magnus his water bottle and then his towel onto his head. “Did we ever move my pillows back into my room, or are we bunking together again? I’m basically going to pass out as soon as we’re in the suite.”

“I didn’t move your pillows.” He slowly got to his feet.

“Cuddling it is.” They both showered and changed quickly. Lucretia stopped by the infirmary to get her feet wrapped one last time and grabbed some extra medical supplies while she was there. Then, they headed for the shuttle back to the village. This time, Magnus refused to let her walk herself. Not on the concrete. "Shoes are so not in my wheelhouse right now." She acquiesced and got on up. 

There was some camera-people outside, snapping pictures of athletes as they came and went from training. They were both far too exhausted to play the press game at the moment, so she just tucked her head into Magnus' neck and pretended to be asleep until they stepped onto the shuttle. Magnus wasn't as lucky. They managed a few pictures of her cuddling and him giving them a sheepish shrug and a smile. He was sure that within the hour, the gossip mills would be going on about them again.

Almost immediately after they took off driving, her head sagged against the window and she drifted off into a light sleep. Magnus noticed the sound of her head vibrating against glass after a moment and gently put an arm around her to nudge her into using him as a pillow instead. She barely noticed, only waking when they pulled to a stop at the VIllage and she had to monkey her way back onto his back.

Magnus was fine ferrying Lucretia around - with how dead his arms were, the way she clung to him was a good thing. He gave her one last ride into the building, and then let her handle herself in the hallways and elevator. She padded gingerly on the carpets, and he kept pace with her. The ice bath may have worn off, but he was still exhausted and in no mood to run. "Dibs on first bathroom?"

"Rock paper scissors for it?" Magnus offered with a grin. He held out his hand and immediately lost. So when they got to the room, Lucretia walked into the bathroom to change and brush her teeth. Meanwhile, Magnus changed and then sat down on the couch to rest a bit. "We should stay up a bit," He called to her through the open door. "We still need to order dinner. I think Dav would kill us if we passed out without having any protein."

Lucretia hummed and spit into the sink. "The place I ate at last night was really good. Let's just get something from there." That's what they ended up doing, Magnus picking up some plastic bowls of noodles and meat and vegetables just outside the village about half an hour later. 

They ate in bed, relaxing and leaning against each other. "We did good work today. I don't think we've gone that hard since the beginning of the season." She chuckled. They'd have to pace themselves from here on out to avoid serious injury, but the day had really felt good. It had given her back the hope that she'd started to lose after the previous night. "Just a week of this, two days of competition, maybe the gala if we medal, and then we have almost a month off until Worlds. That's going to feel so good." Of course, they'd have a few maintenance practices in there to keep their program together for Worlds, but she was really looking forward to the mini vacation.

Magnus groaned. "I'm going to sleep so much. And it'll be good to get a few solid weeks of shifts at the shelter for once." That was what he did when he wasn't skating for the most part. Having his own dogs wasn't practical while he was traveling so much, so he got his fix walking and feeding and training dogs that didn't have an owner to do it for them. "Any plans yourself?"

She shrugged. "Mostly resting, except for one week. The club asked me to help chaperone Junior Worlds. Apparently, most of the Juniors are really young this year. Like, mostly those who made their debut this year or did last year. So they wanted someone to knows the ropes but isn't likely to go out drinking to keep an eye on them during the times the coaches are busy." It was good to know there was young talent coming up, but it also meant that they would have to work that much harder when these kids reached seniors in a few years. "I'll keep you updated on who I think we need to keep an eye on."

"So what I'm hearing is that you're spending a week spying on the future enemy," Magnus deadpanned. While it was great that kids were staying in the sport and that there were talented people in line, he had to admit that he liked winning. They were already at the age where they were transitioning from relying on the energy and enthusiasm of youth to relying on their experience. Eventually, there would be a point where those two tipped in what was the advantage. They were already seeing that in Taako's career. "You'll make a great double agent, for the record. The kids'll be excited to meet an Olympian, and you'll get to see more of what being a coach is like, and we can start planning early on how to destroy the children in competition.”

Lucretia snorted and reached out to flick his nose. "You had something halfway moral in the middle of that list." She shook her head and leaned her chin on his chest. "I'm going to enjoy the energy, I know. I kind of miss juniors, in some ways. Back when it was exciting to land a triple and we were just using practice to dodge math homework instead of like, actual life responsibilities." She smiled softly at the memories.

He hummed in agreement. "God, those were the days. I was so proud of my first lifts, you have no idea. Now it's just like old hat. Which is probably good, come to think of it." Experience was good - there was no way he would've been able to handle this afternoon safely if he hadn't had the muscle memory to fix mistakes on the fly. Juniors Magnus simply hadn't had those skills.

"Yeah, I don't think I would have trusted teenage Magnus to even attempt to throw me as many times as you did this afternoon." Remembering that he was probably sore, she moved to lay next to him instead. "Although, I'm not looking forward to the teenage hormones. You know some of those boys are going to try to make a pass at me. And I do have to balance denying them without crushing their spirit."

Magnus laughed. "Just tell them you already have a partner. Haven't they heard the gossip?"

"I'm not going to lie to the kids, Magnus. Using you to shake off creeps at bars is different from needing to gently let down teenagers."

Magnus shook his head. "I never said to lie. You do have a partner." She gave him a look and rolled his eyes. "Besides, once they get started with their short programs they'll forget all about flirting.” 

"Sure they will." They both knew that wasn't exactly true. But it was a nice thought. 

Heavens knew that teenage Magnus hadn't been above flirting while he practiced once he was secure in his routine. Lucretia had been no exception. They'd only been lucky in being paired up when they were a little older and could work it out. 'Work it out' being a short exchange where he'd made some double entendre about sit spins and she'd told him in no uncertain terms that they weren't good enough yet to be joking around and not to get comfortable. She knew now that she'd been a bit harsh with him on that first day. He was a good guy who respected her boundaries about almost anything else. Really, she wasn't even against pairs dating each other. They knew some married pairs who it worked well for. But she also knew that she was far too focused on her career to devote the time needed to a romantic relationship too. She'd had to be a hardass about that point to drive it home with partners before Magnus, and they hadn't even listened at that point.

It had taken her most of a season, but eventually, she'd loosened up as she realized he wasn't going to push the matter. They were able to joke around and play their game with the media. She was able to be emotionally vulnerable and physically affectionate with him without worrying about it blowing up in her face. 

She patted his chest lightly and smiled. "Don't worry, darling. I promise I have no intentions on trading you up for a newer model, no matter how spry and energetic they may be."

"You'd be making a mistake if you did. I've got stamina, after all." He chuckled. "For what it's worth, I have no plans on trading partners either. Figured we'd retire together, one way or another." Either they'd stay together until they got too old to compete and quit, life would happen and one of them would be forced to leave, or (heaven forbid) someone would get seriously injured. He just couldn't see himself skating with anyone else. At this point, he was too used to Lucretia and all her little idiosyncrasies and habits. (Was it sappy and was he a huge sap who loved her to the moon and back? Yes? Did that have any bearing on their wonderful loving platonic relationship that he wouldn't trade for the world? No.)

Lucretia chuckled, trying to keep the mood from getting too serious. "Of course we're going to retire together. It's ride or die, no matter what. I'm yours. You're stuck with me." She yawned, fighting off sleep. She was exhausted and slightly giddy from all the endorphins of the day, which made her more than a bit loopy.

He returned the yawn. Neither was quite ready to go to sleep yet, however. "So we're going sightseeing in the weeks between the free program and gala though, right? We'll have some time here. I know you were nerding out about that literature garden thing on the way here."

"Absolutely," Lucretia didn't even hesitate. She was looking forward to the stress being off so they could look around the city. "I think we'll need a few days to recover but if we don't need to refresh the exhibition program after we're rested up it's tourism central as far as I'm concerned." They'd catch a few of their friends' events as well. They could even do that while recovering. But part of what she loved about going to competitions was getting to see the world.

"If we do some bus tours, we can see some stuff while recovering." He considered their options. He mentally multiplied his current exhaustion by a week and frowned a bit. "Or we could just sleep for 48 hours straight, cheer our friends on, and then go sightseeing later." He'd been talking about making signs for Avi at the finals. Taako too, but everyone had been discouraging him. Men's singles skating wasn't exactly a rowdy event. 

"48 hours together in this room might be excessive. We'll break it up with some curling matches. That's almost more restful than sleep."

Magnus nearly choked on his food. "I'm telling Barry you said that, holy shit."

"Oh, feel free. I respect that I could never pull off that bizarre hybrid of shuffleboard, bowling, and chess. However, I'll happily explain to him that I have never come out of a curling match without feeling like I'm walking out of a dream. It's hypnotizing." She gestured with her fork as she spoke, her tone completely serious. She ended with a smile, though. It always made her happy to think about how rare it was to have such a close friends group across sports like this.  

"We'll definitely catch everyone's events once we're done with our nonsense. I'll make a schedule." It was easy to see their skate club was grooming her to be a coach one day, with how organized she tended to be. 

Magnus was firmly on board with them - Lucretia would be an awesome coach one day. Something always told him she would, even if it was just teaching little kids to skate. "But there's one problem, Lucy. We're never done with our nonsense. Like, you've met me, right?"

She snorted a laugh and reached up to ruffle his hair. "Okay. Done with this specific nonsense. Unless we have the exhibition. Which honestly, if it were up to me right at this moment, would just consist of us laying down on center ice while they play some sick jams."

Magnus paused and looked at her. "I can't decide what's a bigger power move: that exhibition you just described or calling the Olympics nonsense." They laughed. He pointed his fork at her to get her attention back. "We should really run that show by Dav, though. It would be a hit. The internet would love it."

"I bet we could invite a bunch of the gala skaters to lay down with is. Just forty of the best skaters in the world laying on the ice for ten minutes. That's such a mood. I'm not actually sure what mood, but definitely a mood."

As they finished their last bites, Magnus took their containers and briefly went to the kitchen to trash them. "But our exhibition is good. We can polish it up in an afternoon and then just chill regardless."

She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right though. It would be fun, but ours is fun too.” She stretched out a few tense spots in her back and then settled into a comfortable position where the covers wouldn't disturb her feet.

Magnus was careful not to disturb them as he settled in and relaxed. “Let’s decide after practice tomorrow, yeah?” He yawned.

“Yeah.” Lucretia sighed, and then fell asleep almost instantly.


	6. Interview

For once, Lucretia was not the first one up. Magnus was up around nine. He watched her sleeping on his chest for almost a half hour before he found the motivation to gently disentangle himself and get up. He ran into Davenport as he was grabbing them both breakfast. "Morning, Dav. Any news?" Davenport seemed surprised to see Magnus by himself and glanced around. "Lucy's still asleep. Gonna bring her back the food."

He hummed. "She must have worn herself out. Good." He snorted a slight laugh. "Anyway. Lydia and Edward are definitely here and security has been tipped off that we suspect foul play on their part. However, they can't do anything without probable cause. At least not as far as searching their rooms. They're looking through their access card swipes, but..."

"It's not like they had to go anywhere they shouldn't to steal the skates," Magnus finished wearily. "They could have the bag in their room still in the village for all we know."

"Exactly." Davenport sighed. "At least someone is keeping an eye on them now, but it is frustrating to know we're so close. Hopefully, they do something more to mess up and get caught."

"Hopefully." Magnus agreed. 

Davenport just shook his head. "I'll handle it. You two go relax for the morning. Stretch out and all that. I want to get a clean run before this afternoon is up."

Magnus agreed with him and said goodbye, making his way back to their suite. Lucretia was just starting to stir as he opened the bedroom door looking for her. "Lucy? I brought some food."

She groaned in response. Her whole body was aching, from her feet up. But slowly, she rolled out of bed and gently walked out to the living area. She breathed slowly through the soreness as she sat down and nibbled through a piece of toast and some fruit. She cursed under her breath at the news from Davenport, agreeing with Magnus' assessment that they could still have the bag. But there was nothing they could do. 

"Maybe they'll do something like leave it in a locker at the arena so it looks like you left it there yourself?"

"Is it insane that I'll be even more pissed off if they pull something like that?"

"No, it's not. I'd be pissed too."

Lucretia wasn't much in the mood for talking about it anymore after that. She finished her breakfast quietly, Magnus watching her. While he didn't press the subject, it still frustrated him to no end. He could... No, breaking into Lydia and Edward's suite to search it would probably only get him in trouble. And he wouldn't really have time. So there was really nothing he could do but wait.

"So what's the plan? We've hot hours until practice. Do we want to go catch an event? Go sightseeing?"

Magnus hummed and picked up his phone to look at the schedule. "Carey's got a heat in just a bit. That'll put us just across the street from the ice arena, so we can just chill there until it's time."

"That sounds perfect." Lucretia grinned. She'd never actually gotten the chance to see Carey skate. They only ever drove over for Killian's games, since Carey's heats were so small and infrequent. They finished getting ready, dressing warmly and keeping their gear to just the essentials since they'd be in the arena for a bit. They walked slowly since Lucretia was still a but unsure on her feet, but it wasn't too bad. Almost none of the reserved Olympian seats had been taken, so they were able to get a spot almost right on the floor, to Magnus' delight.

It was interesting to see the speed skating arena in contrast to theirs. This literally looked like a running track, with a field in the middle where all the competitors and coaches and press were hanging out. The competitors were warming up at the moment, so they both quickly got lost in their phones again. She had their music on headphones, running through the new program (which she'd had Davenport email her) mentally to make sure it was locked in her mind. Magnus propped his feet up against the railing in front of him, alternating between texting Taako and looking around at the gathering crowd. It wasn't a bad turnout for the event, especially considering it was as slightly less popular sport.

Lucretia's phone dinged with a Twitter notification. She paused the music and tapped over to it, frowning. She and Magnus had been mentioned in a post from some sports magazine. The post had a picture of the two of them sitting just where they were, on their phones. "Someone's taking pictures." She frowned and squinted at the center of the track, trying to locate the photographer. 

"Why are they taking pictures, though?" He leaned over to look at her phone and then turned to the front, scanning the crowd with her. 

"Because we're sitting next to each other." Lucretia wiggled her eyebrows.

"Oh, of course, I forgot that sitting by my skating partner meant that I was boning you."

"So. Ignore it, or are you up for some press coming over here if I call them out?"

"I'm always good to mess with the press if you are. So whatever you want."

She hummed and did a bit of searching to see who was reporting for this magazine. "Ooh. It's John. Now we have to do it." She quickly replied to the picture. 

 

Nice shot, @johnhunger ! The big zoom lens on your guy's camera isn't creepy at all. But I was under the impression that you were trying to get rid of your reputation as a paparazzi and become a real reporter?

 

It only took a few minutes before Lucretia was able to spot the reporter and his cameraman as they started making their way around the stadium to them. Magnus knew that the cameraman was one that John worked with frequently, but he couldn't quite place his name. He gave them a cheery wave once they were at the foot of the stands below them. Lucretia also twiddled her fingers at them. Of course, they got a frown in return.

Lucretia had to cough and cover her mouth to hide her amused smirk. "John, darling. It's so good to see you again. How's that serious sports reporter thing going for you? Merle was telling us on the flight over that he'd heard you'd applied for a commentator spot this year. Though luck."

The grimace on John's face as he made his way up the stairs was absolutely worth faking the sickly sweet tone in her voice. "Yes, well. That's the way it goes. You win some, you lose some."

"I personally wouldn't know much about that last part." Lucretia's laugh was only half fake.

Magnus leaned back in his seat, suddenly glad he was in the aisle spot and in between the two. Less chance of someone getting up in someone's face.

"Please, we both know you haven't had an undefeated career."

"Maybe not separately, but together I'd say we've been doing pretty good. Only competition I can think of where we didn't finish in the top five resulted in two judges being dismissed from future competitions. So. Pardon me if I don't consider that a huge loss." She smiled pleasantly and shrugged. She knew she was taking a risk, calling them out in an interview John was probably going to write up word for word, but it was a risk she wanted to take. If it could get them to do something stupid, she wanted it to happen. 

"I take it you're expecting to medal, then?"

"We have two beautiful programs that play to our strengths and have been popular with the judges so far this season. All we can do at this point is touch them up and leave it all out there on the ice, right?"

John nodded slightly, seeming to be disappointed that she was choosing her words so carefully. "Based on what we saw yesterday, seems like those touch-ups are wearing you out."

"Well, Magnus is so good at pushing me over that edge." She paused to let the phrase hit before she continued. "With a few days left to the short program, I've got time to recover from some hard workouts."

John was growing visibly more irritated at the non-answer, although he did perk up slightly at the innuendo. As if she was going to come right out and say they were sleeping together.

Magnus had to fight to keep his expression friendly but neutral, the corners of his lips twitching for a moment before he got himself under control. "Don't worry, we know one another's limits and how far we can push before it's too intense." He did his best to sound reassuring, tipping his head sideways as he batted his eyes up at John. "She really tested my stamina yesterday, but we were both pretty happy with the results. I think we'll be satisfied with our performance next week."

John pursed his lips for a moment, seemingly trying to decide how to interpret that. "Are those hard workouts going to continue for the two of you? I have to say, it sounds like you're tweaking something about your program - the audience here will be in for a treat."

It took every bit of strength Lucretia had to keep from laughing. If she thought her core was aching this morning, she was getting an even harder workout from holding herself back. But there was also the fact that Magnus was currently on top with innuendos, and that wouldn't stand. "Well, we always try to mix things up, John. After a while, even things that were once risky feel vanilla. And nobody comes for vanilla. Especially not the judges. Our goal is always to leave people gasping on the edge of their seats." She was sure she was going to get an earful from someone for that one, but she was proud of it.

Magnus very nearly laughed - he managed to disguise it as a cough and picked his water bottle up to take a drink. Damn, now Lucretia was winning.

John hummed slightly, flipping through his notes. "Well, hopefully, your coach hasn't been working you too hard. You only go to your first Olympics once. Have you two managed to get out at all since your shopping spree yesterday?"

Her face fell. While she knew they hadn't been hiding, she also hadn't thought they'd been noticed by the press. Magnus put his bottle down with maybe a bit more force than necessary, knocking his knee into Lucretia's as he bent down to set it on the floor. "Didn't know that me getting a new skate bag to replace one that got dinged up on the way over was that interesting. Should we warn you the next time one of us goes for a run? Or maybe just tweet at you every time someone gets the hiccups?"

John only blinked, looking between them in confusion. Perhaps they'd gotten too defensive too quickly. "I'm sure that won't be necessary. I was just asking if you two had plans for your time off once your event was over. There's so much of the city to see, and it would be a shame to spend it cooped up in the village."

"You're absolutely right, there." Magnus' bump had pulled Lucretia out of her stunned shock. "Even those with the best endurance can't keep it going day in and day out." Okay, that one wasn't as good. She crossed it off her mental list of phrases that worked out loud. "We don't have any practice scheduled tomorrow. I don't think we have anything specific planned? We're mostly just planning on catching a few events. Catching up with friends in other sports, friends in skating from other countries that we only get to see at competitions, that sort of thing. We have plenty of time after the pressure's off to go out on the town. For now, it's all just chilling."

John frowned slightly. Once again, that was an answer he couldn't really turn into anything interesting. "How are things in the village, then? Can you give the public a taste of what's going on behind all the security?"

"I'm sure you've seen the room tour video Taako made. All the suites are about the same as that from what I've seen. Otherwise, I'd just have to say that it's a great environment. Friends you might not get to see more than once or twice a year are just down the hall or across the sidewalk. Everyone is hard working and dedicated to their sports. It's a great sense of community." Magnus ignored John's raised eyebrows, continuing on as if oblivious to the real request for juicy details. "You don't really feel the security from the inside, if that makes sense. Sure you need to have your ID to get in, but once you're in it's nowhere near the environment you get in the behind the scenes shows. That's all staged. I'm pretty sure I saw the curling team building a snowman the other day, just for the heck of it. And yeah, maybe the snowman had scarves from three different countries this morning, but the competition is friendly. We're all just glad to be here doing our best."

John sighed, tapping the pen he was holding against the notebook. "Yes, we've all seen Taako showing us around his suite and critiquing the interior design choices.” He paused for a moment. “Sounds more like a college campus than maybe one might expect. Complete with parties, I've heard? Or can we expect to hear about another prank war?"

Lucretia just shrugged. "If you're expecting us to give a detailed account of how every one of the hundred thousand condoms is being used, you're going to be sorely disappointed. We respect our friends' privacy, and it's not possible to know everything that's going on anyway." She wasn't about to let Magnus drag it completely away from sex, even if everything he said was true. 

"The walls are thick anyways, so even if I wanted to tell you something, I couldn't. I'm pretty sure Lucretia couldn't even hear me in the shower of our own suite."

"There were some parties opening night," She added, "Everyone who follows any athletes on social media saw that. But since then, it's mostly just been quiet fun like snowmen in the quad and video games in the lounge. Really, as much as everyone calls us 'serious' athletes, I think that's a bit of a misnomer when it comes to the Winter Games. It does take a bit of a child at heart to find joy in flying through the air or zooming down a track at top speeds or being chucked around with knives on your feet."

Though it wasn't what he was looking for, John definitely took note of the time stamp on that quote for his article. "I know it's still early, but it's not unheard of for teams to let the stress of an event of this magnitude get to them. How are you two handing being under such international scrutiny for the first time."

Lucretia shrugged. "I wouldn't say it's the first time. I mean, the judging standards are no different from any other competition. This year will be the third consecutive World Championships we've qualified for. Sure, there's a bigger audience than the handful of people that might catch the Grand Prix on a premium sports channel by accident.

“I get why that would be nerve-wracking for athletes that aren't competing in things that are normally spectator sports. I'm now saying anything against them at all. But figure skating draws full auditoriums all the time. It's not the sport to be in if you're performance shy."

John narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, trying to figure out if he'd slipped in more innuendos that he hadn't caught. She just smiled pleasantly at him. "Well. I'm glad to hear you're both so confident that you'll pull this off. It's always a pleasure to see a pair so sure of themselves on the ice. Anything else you'd like everyone back home to know?"

Mangus didn't even need to think about it, leaning back down to grab his water bottle again and popping back up instantly. "Remember to stay hydrated! And please play with your dogs for me; I miss the ones I work with back home." That was pretty standard for him - No shout-outs, no waxing poetic about his supporters and how lucky he was (the people who needed to know how he felt did), just some good advice and a reference to how much he loved dogs. Sometimes he'd throw in an innuendo, but he'd decided to give Lucretia the last say in this one.

John, very used to their antics, looked disappointed at the lack of something more interesting. He didn't bother to note what Magnus had said but turned to Lucretia instead. "And you? Anything to add?"

She hummed for a moment, considering her options. She was just stuck on the fact that she knew that Lydia and Edward would read this. So, she decided to go for that. "I just want to say not to let any haters get you down in anything you try to accomplish. There are always going to be people that don't want you to succeed, and you just have to work that much harder to best them." Made thirsty by Magnus' statement, she picked up her own water bottle and took a sip. “Oh, and Magnus and I are looking forward to joining you and your sweetheart in your living rooms on Valentine’s Day.”

John stopped the recording, rolling his eyes at that cheesy ending. They posed for a cute picture to go with the article - Magnus with his arm over her shoulders - and they were left alone. They ended up enjoying the heat. There was some idle discussion of whether John could be involved, but they doubted it. To the best of their knowledge, he didn’t blame Davenport for his breakup with Merle all those years ago. So, he was more likely to go after Taako than them. Besides, he couldn’t have gotten into the village anyway.

Magnus cheered when Carey went on, winning her heat. Unfortunately, they had to head over for their practice before they saw if she outright medaled for her time.

Davenport showed up just before they got on the ice, although he didn’t have much in the way of planning. They were just doing straight runs of the programs, starting over on mistakes. That ended up not being too hard because the hardest bit was getting the initial twist lift down. The practice had been enough for Lucretia to get her rotations down, but timing it to the music and Magnus throwing her at the right angle to catch her while he glided was hard.

When Lucretia skated off to check on the new stinging of blisters on her feet, Magnus took a few quick laps to calm down. She smiled at him as he came off. “It’s your turn for funk today, huh?”

He rolled his eyes. “Short program is good. I think we have it down. Less new stuff to fuck up.” 

Davenport agreed. “Just shake it off, Burnsides. You’re doing fine. Do a few drills of just the twist, run each program once clean, and we’ll call it a day.”

With Lucretia’s wounds treated, they hopped back onto the ice and focused on the free program. In this second half, she ended up reducing a few of the jumps.

As they sat on the bench, debriefing and cooling down, they worked out their signaling for if she needed to reduce them on the fly during the event. They were in dance hold for most of it, so it wasn’t an issue to talk then, but it had to be quick and not noticeable.

Magnus had to remind himself that falling asleep there on the bench was not really an option. He ended up with an elbow on one of his knees, head propped up to listen to Davenport. This was their last real practice, but they would have a good chance to warm up the day off and run through the programs. 

Okay, one last rehearsal. That was doable. Definitely doable. Of course, Lucretia tensed. Magus didn't give as much thought to reach over to grab her hand and give it a squeeze.

Lucretia squeezed his hand back, though it didn't relieve the worried set of her brow. She knew they could do anything they set their mind to. She trusted Mangus. But it was still nerve-wracking that she was this injured and they were still touching things up this close to the day. 

Once Dav was done and they were dismissed, Magnus got to his feet and pulled their gear bag up with him to deposit it onto the bench. "Ready?" He looked to Lucretia, waiting until she was ready to pick her up

They both grunted lightly as he did, him from the effort of picking her up and her from the slight pain of pushing off the ground with her feet. He took her to outside the locker room, wishing he could carry her the rest of the way as he watched her limp off.

They both showered off and then headed back to the medical bay. Lucretia was stripped down to her underwear and a sports bra, and Magnus just in his boxers. While the staff set up the ice baths, she unwrapped her feet and started examining them. They weren't too bad, other than the couple of spots from earlier. She put her feet in first, trying to numb them. But eventually, the medical staff told them both to get into the tubs that were right next to each other. Magnus hissed. It made all his hair stand up, and they hadn't even gotten to the hard part yet. Lucretia cursed under her breath. "Whoever first discovered that this helped with anything was fucking bonkers." She closed her eyes and ran her hands back through her hair. Now that she was settled, she grabbed her phone and started going through social media as the bath continued to chill.

Magnus was stuck with his arms below the water, nothing to do but talk to her since he needed the relief for his shoulders and arms. "You're the fact nerd. You tell me who invented ice baths."

Lucretia hummed. "In general? The Vikings or the Russians, probably. For sports, I think it was some marathon runners or something."

Magnus rolled his eyes. "Do you want to do anything fun tomorrow? Heard a bunch of the actually married pairs end up doing Valentine’s Day shit tomorrow since doing stuff in between the short and free programs isn't a good idea. I dunno what we'd do, really. Unless you want to get impulse married and give the gossip columns a collective aneurysm, I was thinking romcoms and wine?"

"Impulse married sounds good. As long as we don't consummate it we can get it annulled after the medal ceremony." 

"Nobody would believe we didn't, not if they already think we're fucking. The rumors would just shift to it being, like, some kind of shotgun wedding, and I'm way too young to have a secret lovechild with you."

"Right. Because I'd totally still be on the ice if I was pregnant. Getting thrown around by my hips is obviously the best thing for a newly attached embryo." They both dissolved into a fit of giggles at that. Her phone dinged with a text, making her hum. "Or we could go out to dinner with Lup and Barry. She just offered. Says we don't get out enough."

Magnus sighed. They had been dragged out with Lup and Barry a few times. It was always fun, he'd give them that. But neither Lup nor Taako was good at being subtle about trying to set them up. And although Barry didn't seem to actively be trying, he was no better. "They're a lot. I love them, but they're a lot."

"She does have a point about you not going out, to be fair. You're a homebody if there ever was one." Lucretia gave him a look for that. "But like, a fun homebody, though. I can drag you out more if you want."

She took a few deep breaths as she started to shiver, glad for the distraction of the conversation. "I'm a homebody by choice, not because nobody invites me out. Doing shots in a crowded room where the music is so loud you can't hear yourself think just doesn't sound as fun to me as a glass of wine and a good book.”

"Well, it sounds worse when you put it like that." Magnus shook his head, settling in for the usual debate (banter, disagreement) surrounding the staying versus going out thing. "It's not like it's all frat parties where you're in a packed basement and there's just cheap alcohol and the music is some idiot with an iPod who keeps jacking up the volume. There are chill bars with dancing where the music's pretty faint off the dance floor and you're not rubbing elbows with people."

"But some of the parties you go out to are definitely like that. The opening night party was. I don't always mind that, either. Like, if it's someone's birthday and that's how they want to celebrate? Bring it on. But it's not my idea of fun. So if it's just for fun, I'm not interested."

"Sure. But they're not all ragers that end in Taako on top of a table or Avi yell-talking about snowboard bindings." He hesitated for a moment, then snorted. "Actually, Taako being on a table is a bad metric. He likes being tall."

Lucretia flexed her toes and shook her head. "You still brought up a dance floor, though. There are reasons that I'm not in ice dance beyond being a weirdo that likes getting thrown around."

Magnus snorted. "Lucy, you've got rhythm. Don't try to tell me you can't dance."

She just shrugged. "I mean, in theory, I probably could if it did just come to that. But it's...more than that, yeah?" She gave him a sheepish look. She hadn't been out dancing enough to really know how people danced in a club, but she wasn't about to admit that. That would just give Magnus more fuel. "I mean, I cross-trained in ballet and ballroom just like most of us did. And I sucked at those. You know me; I'm all stiff during practice because I'm focusing but it's different while I'm performing. And you can work with stiffness while you're skating. Not so much when you're dancing."

"Because you're a perfectionist. There aren't, like, step sequences if you just go out dancing. Unless you're doing an existing dance, but..." He shrugged and shook his head a bit. "And any decent partner can work with stiffness in dance too - I'd bet if we went somewhere to dance, you'd be fine. Just let me lead." He flashed her a wink and a smirk.

She grimaced. She understood how she could theoretically like it and why Magnus thought she would like it if she tried. But she couldn't get past the knot in her stomach at the idea of actually going out just to dance. "I'll think about it. That may be something that requires physical dragging. But it is reluctance rather than a hard no, I'll give you that." A time next to the tubs went off and she groaned. "Thank fuck. I can't feel my legs." 

"That's the idea." Still, Magnus got out of the tub just as quickly as she did. They both dried off, rubbing themselves down firmly to try to bring feeling back to their limbs. It was so good for the pain to be numbed, but the shivering deep inside felt awful. They both walked off towards the locker rooms, shivering. "Tell Lup we'll come to dinner though. We could probably shame them into paying if they tease us too much.”

Lucretia managed a small smile. "Will do."

As quickly as they could, they both changed into their warmest clothes. She started texting only once she stopped shivering, which took layers of tights, leggings, socks, pants, an undershirt, a sweater, and her down jacket. Lup sent her back a thumbs-up emoji and then a confirmation that she'd look into finding a place for them. Lucretia was glad that they wouldn't have to worry. Maybe Magnus was even right. If they played their cards right, they'd get a fun night out and get their friends to pay for their dinner. When they met out in front of the locker room, Lucretia chuckled. Magnus was just as bundled up as she was and was still shivering. "Better than sore arms tomorrow, eh?" She teased.

He stuck out his tongue at her. "Need a ride, or are you good?"

"I'm actually not bad right now. I can't feel my toes. We'll see how I am once we get back." With that, they both went out to the shuttle and headed back to the village. Almost immediately, they hit up the dining hall to get hot chocolate and tea. They weren't shivering anymore, but they were still chilled to the bone. It took them another hour or so of drinking hot beverages and curling up with each other under blankets before their body temperatures were back to normal. And, as if by a miracle, most of the normal muscle soreness didn't come. Lucretia's feet were still killing her, but it was so much easier to just deal with that than it was to deal with that and her entire body hurting.

That night, she had truly intended to sleep in her own bed. She'd wanted space so that they could both spread out how they wanted to and be comfortable. But by the time they had stripped down their layers to just what they needed to sleep in, they were both exhausted. A casual conversation about Valentines Days past faded out until they were both completely asleep.


	7. Dinner

The next day, they stuck around the village. They got breakfast and lunch in the dining hall and watched some events on the TV. Magnus wished that he could've been watching Avi's halfpipe event live like he'd wanted to, but he wasn't even motivated enough to sit here in the public lounge in his pajamas. He was texting him while Lucretia texted Lup to confirm the time and place of their double date tonight. Since Lup had a run before seven that evening, they decided on an early dinner so that she would have time to digest.

So at three, they made their way back to their room to change. The place they'd decided on was not that fancy, but also wasn't completely casual. Lucretia, luckily, had most packed for that style, knowing she would be doing interviews at some point. She came out in a red sweater dress that stopped shy of her knees, light grey leggings, and black knee-high boots that were soft enough inside that they didn't rub her at all. It was a departure from her skimpy clothes on the ice and an even bigger departure from her comfy workout gear and pajamas that Magnus normally saw her in.

Magnus didn't have as many options. He'd packed for a handful of formal events and for lazing around. He didn't know much about dressing up in general. Outside of skating, his go-to outfit was usually some combination of cargo shorts, tank tops, jeans, and t-shirts. Sometimes a sweatshirt. It was more practical for all the time he spent with the dogs. So as he got dressed, he found himself thanking Taako and his fashion sense. The man had bought him a few items before they left, insisting that he needed something to be seen in by the press if he and Lucretia did well. He managed to pull something together from those items. He leaned against the kitchenette counter in a deep purple sweater, dark jeans, and clean boots. He felt a bit out of place in the ensemble. Even though Taako had assured him the sweater was his size, it felt too tight.

"You ready to go?" Lucretia came out of the bathroom completely ready, makeup on and hair pulled up out of her face.

"Yep!" He looked up from his phone and immediately forgot if he'd been planning on saying anything else. That...that was a new dress, right? That's why he was reacting with surprise. It took him a second to catch his words again, so Magnus tried to cover it by going to get their coats. "You, uh, you have the address, right? Lup didn't send it to me."

Lucretia slipped on her own coat, her phone already in her hands and pulling up the address. She hadn't even looked up and noticed Magnus staring at her. "Yeah, I've got it. I'm calling a cab now." She tapped the app on her phone and made their way down and outside the gates of the village to the pickup spot. It started to snow once more as they stood there. "Nice," She grinned, holding up a gloved palm. "That has to be good luck for tomorrow morning, right?" She smiled at him and nudged his side.

"It's gotta be." He looked up at the large flakes falling, nudged Lucretia back, and then immediately tried to catch some snow on his tongue.

Fifteen minutes later, they were at the restaurant. Lucretia texted Lup and then managed to navigate the restaurant back to their corner booth.

Lup stepped out to greet her with a hug. "Why the hell are you two wearing those awful things from the Opening Ceremony? I swear you're hopeless if Taako or I don't dress you."

Lucretia rolled her eyes as she hugged back. "Lup, I'm certain this is one of the most expensive things I own. It's one of the few designer things I own if you don't count costumes. She gave Barry a wave as they took off their coats, stuffed them in the corner of the booth, and slid into place. Lucretia took the inside, and Magnus the outside. 

Magnus greeted Barry with a quick hug - the jeans got a nod of approval from the other man. He gave Lup a hug as well, ruffled her hair, and then leaned back before she could grab him to retaliate.

Barry rolled his eyes beside Lup, shaking his head a little. “She already gave me the jacket speech, resistance is futile." He glanced over to his wife with a grin, then looked back to Lucretia. "There's probably already a plan in place to burn them when we get home, if you guys want to come."

Lucretia shook her head as he picked up a menu. "You see, my instinct is to get indignant about burning it, but I also have no doubt that I would be lit on fire if I ever wore it again at home."

"Damn straight." Lup chucked. "You two been having a good time so far? Getting some good ice time in?"

Lucretia glanced up at Magnus, not sure how much she should share. They could trust Lup and Barry. But at the same time, they were in public. "Yeah. Lots of ice time. Dav gave us today to recover and rest up, and then it's an early morning tomorrow and the next day." She tried not to think too hard about the pressure that was on them for their event tomorrow.

"Yeah, it's been good," Magnus added, "We're in a good place for tomorrow." There was a bit of nervousness in his tone, but he believed his words. He spread his legs to lean his knee into Lucretia's. She pressed her knee right back. She was compartmentalizing her nervousness, tucking it away so it wouldn't affect her performance. Any bit of comfort helped with that.

Lup hummed in understanding. "We're going to do our best to be there. I mean, you know Taako and I will be there. But Bear here's event starts an hour before yours, so it depends on when his team is up and how quickly the match goes. You two are ranked pretty high, though, so he should be able to make it by the time you're on." She elbowed Barry as she finished.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. It was clearly to stop the elbowing, but the fond look he shot her was anything but a reprimand. "You can't rush perfection, and it's ten ends, but I'm planning on coming straight over. Worst case, I'll go a little internet viral for watching another event on my phone during my heat."

"You know, Barry, I have no idea what you just said, but it sounded wise."

Lup snorted as she laid her head on Barry's shoulder. "Lucy, are you going to stop pretending that you have no idea how curling works one of these days?"

She shrugged at her. "I don't have to pretend. Other than the goal being to get the stones on the target, it is a sport that is beyond my comprehension." She flipped to the back of the menu, looking through her drinks options and debating whether to order a glass of wine or not. "I just cheer and gasp along with you and nod when you mumble along with your telepathic reading of his thought process."

Magnus nodded as he started to flip through the drinks menu. "We googled the rules once and she still has no idea what's going on." Not that he had a great grasp of the nuances of the different maneuvers, but Magnus at least knew what Barry meant when he came out of matches grumbling about missing the button.

Barry looked disappointed in Lucretia as he pulled away from Lup to sketch out what he was saying with his hands, gesturing in the air in front of him. "It's pretty intuitive. You want to have your stone or stones in the house and closer to the button than the other team does. That's how you score in an end. If you've got the hammer, you'll probably score, but a good team can steal sometimes." 

Lucretia made a show of looking up as Barry started and then letting her expression go slack and glazed-over. Barry sighed, letting his hands drop to the table. "You two look like I'm sure I did when you tried to explain the different jumps to me."

Lucretia caught Magnus' eye and laughed. "I'm teasing. Really. I respect what you do and don't meant to make a joke of it when you're already in a sport that's so easy to mock." She winked and pulled away to pick her menu back up.

Lup sighed at her. "You're the worst, you know that, right?" Lucretia shrugged a shoulder and feigned an innocent smile. 

Barry shook his head, torn between exasperation and wanting to laugh. "It's not for everyone, and I know that, but if you can tell a salchow and a loop apart on sight, you can figure out curling." Was Barry good at telling figure skating jumps apart? No. Was that going to stop him from using them in analogies? It hadn't so far, and he'd known Taako for more than a decade.

A waitress came by to get their drink and appetizer orders. Lup looked between the group. "I dunno about you guys, but I've gotta carb load for that 15k I've got in a few hours."

Barry shrugged. "I'll share if you want, you know that."

Magnus shook his head and waved his hand. "We're skating early tomorrow. What's quick fuel now is junk in the morning." And he was trying to stick to his usual pre-competition food plan. Lucretia turned down the offer for the same reasons. It was half superstition and half actual nutrition, but it hadn't failed them so far. 

As the waitress left, they turned back to the conversation. "That's fair, Barry, but I'm impressed that you could name two edge jumps off-hand. Although your expression says it was an accident."

Lup hummed at their denial. "We'll skip the apps altogether, then." Before Barry could get disappointed, she turned and cut him off. "We'll get some chocolate cake to go, promise. Share it in room tonight after I win." She kissed his forehead and turned back to the waitress. "I'll have the pasta special, then. With a side salad." 

Barry ordered for himself and then returned the kiss, nuzzling her cheek and taking her hand under the table. Lucretia shifted in her seat at the handsiness of the couple across from them as she ordered her food. Magnus seemed not to notice.  "After you win?" Barry teased with a smirk.

"Did I stutter? We will share some victory cake and celebrate tonight after I win." She threaded their fingers together.

Magnus picked at the paper napkin holder around his silverware and turned back to the table. "So, any sightseeing plans for you two? I know we were thinking of going after we're done skating."

Lup hummed and shrugged. "We've been going to different events in our spare time. Going out sightseeing is complicated seeing as they spread out curling to the point that Barry has a match every day. But I'm done after tonight which means we'll have every other afternoon open from here on out. We could do some stuff together."

Lucretia nodded, considering. "There are a few museums I want to check out before we leave. I'm not so into the bus tours, but we'll probably do at least one of those to get the experience."   
  
"But of course if we medal, we'll have to devote a few practices to what our exhibition skate will be. That's a fun time."

Barry sighed. "Nobody wants so watch curling for a day straight, so they broke it up, yeah. But you two should have plenty of alone time next week." Lucretia narrowed her eyes at him. Inviting them out for a Valentine’s Day double date was heavy-handed enough that they were trying to set them up again. Throwing in phrases like that was almost making fun of the situation. But they hadn't done anything too blatant yet, so she let it slide. 

"Hell yeah, fun time." Magnus distracted Lucretia from her glaring with a fist bump. "We'll know soon enough if we want to work out details for making it a group thing. Maybe you can help me get her to go into the city and just, like, look around." He smirked at Lucretia who turned her glare towards him.

"I don't get the fun of that. Why would we go wander around without something specific to do?"

Lup snorted and rolled her eyes. "Not everything has to be planned, Lucy-loo. Sometimes it's fun to walk around and take things in. I'll tell you it's definitely how you find the best restaurants. Wait until you're hungry and then follow your nose."

"That's how we found this place," Barry added.

"Also because adventure, Creesh." Magnus pulled a face at her, ignoring Barry's snort at what, in his opinion, was a wonderful mix of exasperation and trying to dare her to agree with him. It wasn't just a stupid face. "You never know what you'll find! Probably something cool. I wasn't looking for a new partner when Dav suggested I skate with you next season, and that turned out really well."

Lucretia's brow furrowed at him. "You do realized what you just said is nonsense, right? Why on earth would Dav have suggested you skate with me if you didn't need a partner, Mags?"

"I thought I had a partner. We just didn't fit super well. She was leaving, yeah, but she'd only told Dav when he suggested we do a trial." He stuck his tongue out. "Besides. You don't know my life. I could've been doing singles before we met." That was only half true. There were videos on the internet that he was sure that she'd seen, and they hadn't been totally oblivious to each other. It wasn't possible to be when you had the same coach. 

"Right. You were totally doing singles before me, Burnsides. That explains the noodle arms." She patted his bicep . By virtue of working in the office of their skating club as her main source of income since high school, she'd been aware of Magnus longer than he might think. She'd taken half a season off after a bad fall out with her previous partner. She hadn't been subtle about asking after pairs that seemed to be having a rough time. "No offense to Taako."

"You could probably beat Taako in a push-up contest, Luce," Lup pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course she could beat Taako in a push-up contest." Barry rolled his eyes. "I could beat Taako in a push-up contest."

"This is not the point!" Lup waved a hand that almost hit Barry in the face. He leaned out of the way with practiced ease, catching her hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it before he let her go back to gesturing in that way of hers that kind of looked like she was trying to flag someone down. "You're only here for a month. You gotta take advantage of it and you're not doing that if you're only seeing the ice arena and the inside of your suite."

"I get what you're saying, Lup." Lucretia shrugged. "But also, we don't know if we're only here a month. Now that they have the facilities, it's pretty likely they'll apply to host Worlds here in the future."   
"Her point's that we don't know if we'll be back, though." Magnus pointed out, "It's not very good planning to bank on something that might not happen, right?"

Lucretia acquiesced to that, but was interrupted as their drinks arrived. Lup took that as a break in the conversation to bring up another topic that had been on her mind. "So Taako says the word on the vine is that you two have been living in the training room since you got here. You throwing in some surprises we didn't see at Nationals?"

“That’s not a phrase.” Lucretia shook her head a bit at Lup.

“Heard it through the grapevine. Same diff. It’s a thing because I just said it and you knew what I meant.”

"And,” Barry interrupted, “I heard that when you're not on the ice or in the training room, you're in your suite. Sounds like there's a plan to me." Barry tilted his head. “Share with the class what you two are up to?”

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if we told you, now would it?”

Lup sighed. “Come on, Lucretia. Spill. We don’t even know any of your competitors.”

Magnus bit back a sheepish smile and glanced over to meet Lucretia's eyes. They had a silent conversation for a long moment about how much to share. She trusted Lup and Barry, she really did. But they kept their programs under tight wraps and she didn’t want to spoil that. And they were still trying to catch Lydia and Edward, so she didn’t want Lup to do anything drastic. “I’ll tell you that something happened that we’ve had to adjust for. I know Dav told Merle, so if you don’t know that tells me that he’s keeping it from Taako to keep him focused on his event. Lup, I love you dearly, but I don't trust you to keep something from your brother for that long."

"We'll be good tomorrow, it just took a little doing," Magnus added. "We'll tell you after Taako's done. Promise."

Lup groaned. "I hate secrets. Especially when you phrase your reasoning all reasonable like that." Barry squeezed her hand to comfort her.

Lucretia gave her a small apologetic smile. "I'll go as far to promise that I'll fill you in while we're in the audience for Taako's free program, yeah? I don't want to psych him out or distract him." The two girls hooked pinkies to seal the promise, chuckling at each other. "Regardless, it's an early night for us. We have to be at the rink by seven tomorrow morning for the stylists to get us fixed up. Of course, Magnus could find a bench to nap on while I'm getting my hair and makeup done."

"Or I can stay awake and not ruin everything the stylists are gonna do to me." Sure, there wasn't as much to his outfits or makeup, but it was enough that he lived in mild fear of making a stylist re-do something. He'd bring the puzzle cube that Taako had gotten him for Candlenights. Supposedly, there was something inside? He didn't know, but it had kept him busy during downtime for the couple months since he'd gotten it. "Oh, I could-" The waitress arrived then, setting their plates in front of them. Magnus scooted away from Lucretia so that there was room for both of their plates. "I might scope out the other pair's costumes."

Lucretia hummed in agreement at that. "It should be good. I heard most people got new costumes for the Olympics and Worlds this year."

"By the by," Lup started, around a mouthful of food, "Have I mentioned that it's beyond cute that they schedule the start of Pairs for Valentines Day? Like, it's cheesy and inconvenient considering a good half of you guys are couples, but it's still cute."

Magnus rolled his eyes. "It's super cute, but it's annoying. If it doesn't wreck your own plans, it wrecks at least one friend's plans, so you get to deal with it no matter what." He was all for cheesy cute stuff, and this was definitely that. But sometimes the idea of having Valentines Day free would be nice. "It wasn't ideal in high school, let's be real."

Lucretia grinned at that. "Yeah, I remember the Olympics in high school vividly. There was some sort of dance that the school put on? I guess to keep us from going on unsupervised dates or whatever. The guy I was dating at the time was pissed because I planned to skip school that day to watch the short programs. Which meant I wasn't allowed to attend the dance."

Lup rolled her eyes. "If he wasn't pissed at something like that, he obviously wasn't the one, Luce. Those dances at school were always lame shit anyway. Taako and I weren't even allowed at out senior prom because we'd tried to spike the punch at homecoming the previous year."

Barry tilted his head. "No, wasn't it because you two rigged the senior year homecoming court election so that the mascot won both king and queen?"

Magnus choked on a mouthful of water he'd been intending to swallow and ended up spitting back into the glass. "Yeah, uh, same on skipping to watch the shorts, my girlfriend was annoyed, but can we please talk about how you-?!"

"I mean, that was just an excuse. All the administrators also knew we were spiking the punch, but they could never prove it." Lup shrugged and took a casual sip of water.

Lucretia shook her head. "You're dodging the question. How did you manage to rig an election that bad?"

Lup took her time drinking her water. "I mean, it's their fault for putting a write-in spot on the ballots. It was easy for me to convince the athletes to do it because they found it hilarious. Same with the music kids. You did the nerds, right Bear? And from there it spread. something like 80% of the vote."

Barry drummed his fingers on the table. "82%, if I remember the math."

"That's amazing." Magnus high-fived Lup, almost knocking an elbow into his plate as he leaned over. "Your high school was way cooler than mine."

Lup rolled her eyes at Barry. "Oh please, sourpuss. You were so relieved that you weaseled out of having to do a promposal."  She leaned over and kissed his cheek with a smirk.

He flushed a bit, but smiled back and leaned over into her. "Bold of you to assume it was going to be a promposal and not just me asking you what color tie I needed to get."

"Being bold is one of my biggest character traits, dearest. Keep up." Lup laced their fingers under the table. "I'm sure you would have planned a wonderful promposal, babe."  


"Right, because the proposal went so well."

"You didn't  _plan_ me suggesting we head down to the courthouse for those financial aid bucks. Both would have been amazing if you had planned it. You have a flare for the dramatics, darling."

Barry snorted. "What, I hijack the morning announcements one time, and suddenly I'm dramatic?"

"Babe, I've taken care of you while you're sick and listened to you gossip about work. You may be more subtle that Taako and I, but you're more dramatic than most people." Barry smiled and shook his head a bit and started to lean to return the cheek kiss. Lup turned her head at the last second to get a proper kiss, not caring about the other two.

Lucretia's nose wrinkled. "I hate that I can't tell you two to save the PDA, considering this is Valentines Day. It feels like a trap."

Lup perked up and grinned. "Oh, you think you can't complain? That's interesting. We would have turned it up several notches if we'd known that." Barry slung an arm around her shoulders.   
Lucretia shook her head at their antics and changed the topic. "So does that mean that Magnus is the only one here who went to prom? I graduated a semester early."

Magnus rolled his eyes and tossed his hands in the air in mock agitation. "Yes! And it was fun! I can't believe I'm surrounded by people who've never been to prom!" He turned, narrowing his eyes. "I've never heard of a school telling someone they can't come to prom or graduation unless they're in trouble. Did you skip 'cause you didn't want to dance?"

Lucretia took a sip of water to avoid reacting. "I just said, I was already graduated by that time. Besides, I didn't really know anyone at my high school. I started working in the office at the rink at sixteen. So, like, from sophomore year on I was either in class, at the rink, at a competition, or asleep. Not much time for dancing."

"That's not an answer." They stared at one another for a moment, each challenging the other to turn it into a thing. Magnus ended up rolling his eyes. "I mean, if we get to the gala, that's kind of like grown-up prom? If we get to the gala this year, it could be a better replacement for prom for anyone who never went."

Lucretia's brow furrowed. "What do you mean by that? Exhibition skates don't sound anything like prom."

Magnus grinned and didn't reply. "Now I know you never went. Don't worry too much about it. It'll be fine." He said the last bit on purpose, knowing it would worry her.

Lup hummed at them, leaning into Barry. "Not that whatever you're planning isn't fun, Magnus, but why not come out and make it prom? Put some fake orthodontic headgear and some dorky braids on Lucretia, put Magnus in some football pads. I'll be an international hit."

Magnus and Lucretia's eyes went wide, and then they looked to each other. "Can we do lifts with me in shoulder pads?" He asked, already thinking though their exhibition skate and what would work for a prom show.

"We could manage hip lifts? I definitely think we couldn't manage lassos because you wouldn't have full range of motion." She pulled out her phone, writing down ideas. "How quickly do you think Dav could mix 'You're the One That I Want' from Grease with 'Teenage Dream'?"

"Like, if we tell him now? End of the week.  And what if we went with like cloth shoulder pads with breaks in them so I could move more?" Magnus started reading over her shoulder.

"He probably wouldn't start on it until after we won? Bad luck, otherwise."

Barry sighed, leaning his head against Lup's. "Look at what you did."

"I am so sorry, Bear. I've inspired a monstrosity, as I usually do when it comes to joking about potential exhibitions."

"That's going to exist on the internet forever. That's going to be the kind of video we play at their wedding to embarrass them."

Lucretia hummed. “Mm, true. But it won’t take him long if we mention it so he’s at least thinking about it.” Dav was probably the most superstitious of the three of them when it came to celebrating early, or planning anything that hinged on them winning something before they’d won, or letting things be good enough. “I bet we could put something cool together pretty quickly, as long as we can find the materials. Think we can just tweak the exhibition plan we’ve been using?”

Lup laughed. “We should call someone back home to make sure they’re recording the broadcast.”

“I’ll get on that when we get back to the room.”

All the planning and flirting was interrupted when Lucretia's phone started ringing and the screen lit up with Davenport's picture. "Speak of the devil." She answered it quickly. "Hey coach, we're out at the moment. What's up?" As Davenport talked, her expression faded.


	8. Turmoil

As Davenport talked, her expression faded from giddy excitement to confusion and concern. "Did he take anything? ...What?"

Lup disentangled herself from Barry to lean forward, trying to listen in on the conversation. Lucretia had the volume down too low for anyone to listen in, however, something she'd started doing when she got such nosy friends.

Lucretia leaned back in the seat. 'Yes, I'm pressing charges. We'll get out leftovers to go and be back as soon as possible. Thanks, Dav." She hung up and raised her eyebrows pointedly at Magnus. “We need to get back to the village."

Magnus blinked and then nodded. Quickly. "Yeah, okay. Uh." He turned to try to flag down a waitress so they could pay and get out of the restaurant as quickly as possible.

Barry frowned and looked between Lucretia and Magnus to try to get some sense of what was going on. But Lucretia was inscrutable and Magnus just looked confused, so. He looked to Lup, who seemed to be getting the same read from them.

Lucretia had the taxi app open and had already requested a cab. She looked helplessly to Barry and Lup, struggling to give them some explanation. She reached out and squeezed Lup's hand. "If it looks like this is leaking to the press, I'll text you after your event tonight. Otherwise, I have to keep to the schedule of filling you in after Taako's done. Break a leg tonight, Lup."

Lup sighed but squeezed Lucretia's hand back. "Fine. You owe me a damn good story for making me wait, though." When the waitress arrived, Lup told her they needed boxes quickly for Magnus and Lucretia, and the bill for the other two. She waved them off before they could complain. "We got a bunch of cash exchanged when we arrived and we need to use it before we lose it to more fees."

Magnus and Lucretia didn't have time to process what a bullshit answer that was, nor to be grateful that they didn't have to pay. He handed Lup a few bills to help cover the tip, and they rushed out as soon as their food was packed. Once they were in the car, he looked to her. "Did someone break in again?"

Lucretia took a deep breath to center herself. She was shaking. "Edward's been arrested. He was caught trying to break into our room. With my old skates. He apparently didn't know the locks had been changed." She wasn't sure if the shaking was with anger or nerves. 

He sucked in a sharp hiss of a breath. "Shit."

"The chaos of that seems so like them. You know, trying to gaslight us into thinking I just misplaced them? Maybe he was going to put them under a bed or in a cabinet or something."

Magnus stopped. "Did- was it just Edward, or...?"

"I didn't ask, obviously. But the way Dav said it made it sound like it was just him." 

"Huh." Magnus wasn't sure if only one of them being around meant something, but that was a problem for about day.

She shook her head. “I just feel like him getting caught this easily is so weird.”

He sighed. “It’s weird, yeah, but can we just…Take it? You press charges, and at least you’ve got your good skates back?”

Lucretia ran her free hand back through her hair and looked out the car window. It was still light out, and she was grateful for it. It meant that she would still have time to calm down and get a decent night's sleep, even after they had to deal with the police. She took another shaky breath. "Do I want to use the old skates, though? I mean, they're a bit more worn-in. But the muscle memory we've been working in the past few days is with the new skates..."

Magnus took her hand away from her hair and squeezed it. “Whatever feels right. We’ll ask Dav and figure it out.” The older skates would be more comfortable, for sure, but she had a point about the new skates being what she was used to.

"Maybe do tomorrow in the new skates and run a practice with the old ones to see what'll work better?" Whatever she was comfortable with - he'd be ok either way. “Just one thing at a time. Police first, then skates. It'll be ok, I promise."

"Yea. Checking with Dav makes sense." Lucretia didn't talk much for the rest of the drive. Dav met their car at the entrance to the village and started corralling them to the security office. As they went, he filled them in. Edward was seen on the cameras and taken in by security before he could get into the room. After she confirmed that she wanted to press charges, the local police were called. Right now, they were trying to keep everything from becoming a media circus but they both needed to make statements to the police.

Mangus counted himself pretty lucky not to have to deal with the police much - he had to give a statement corroborating Lucretia's story, that he'd stopped by the room only briefly after the opening ceremonies and had noticed that the bag was still there, that he'd been out but returned to fine the bag gone when Lucretia called. And after that? He mostly ended up in a chair in the corner of the room, clutching their leftovers and Lucretia's coat (once she got too warm for it). 

Lucretia just nodded along and went with that the police needed. She refused to even acknowledge that Edward was in the same room with her as she made her statement to a translator, who gave it to the police. They went through her bag and confirmed that everything that was supposed to be there was - her skates, her running shoes, a knee brace, a towel, and a few extra sets of warm-up clothes. She exchanged the bag for the sports store receipt with the items she'd replaced highlighted so an approximate value stolen could be calculated.

The whole thing seemed to drag on for ages to Magnus, just one thing after another after another, and he was more than a little antsy.

Finally, they were allowed to go back to their room with Lucretia's bag in hand. 

He let out a heavy sigh once the door had closed behind them, reveling in the quiet for half a second before he kicked off his shoes and made a beeline for the kitchenette to stick the leftovers in the fridge. Lucretia, on the other hand, went straight to the couch and laid down. "Of course it would be tonight the bag gets found," he sighed, looking over at her. She was staring blankly up at the ceiling. "D'you want hot chocolate? I can go get some packets from the lounge."

"Not in the mood." Even her voice sounded numb. She was trying to process her emotions while at the same time knowing that tonight was the worst possible night to deal with them.

He nodded and started getting ready for bed. All the time, he kept an eye on Lucretia on the couch.

"I think I'm going to go on a run." She said suddenly, breaking the long silence.

Magnus spat toothpaste into the sink and leaned out to look at her. It made sense that she needed to get out some frustration. He was annoyed, so he could only imagine where she was at. "You sure?"

She was already digging through her newly found bag, pulling out her shoes and her running thermals. "Just around the village. It's either that or hit something, and the former is less likely to result in injury."

He nodded slowly. "Okay. Yeah. Just, you know. Make good choices. I'll be here if you want me." They both knew what he was saying. She needed the release, but she didn't need to tear up her feet anymore. He wasn't nagging, he just knew she got tunnel vision when she was pissed and a reminder wasn't out of line.

She nodded numbly as she went into the bedroom to change. Magnus finished brushing his teeth and then settled on the couch with his phone to check and see if the press had gotten wind of things. It seemed not. There were a few other Olympians making posts on Twitter asking if anyone knew anything about the guy being arrested, but nobody had put any pieces together yet. Good.That meant they had some time.

Lucretia gave Magnus a stiff smile as she came out. She ruffled his hair as she passed. "I won't hurt myself, promise. Thick socks." She patted the bottom of her shoe as if to show him. "I'll stretch before and everything. I just need to get this...this fucking negative shit out of me. If I'm not back in an hour, just come out to the courtyard and stop me."

"Sounds good to me. I'll toss you over my shoulder and everything if you stay out too late." He waited until she'd shut the door behind her to melt into the couch cushions, tipping his head back to stare at the ceiling. Today had been a shit show, and it was nice to just be able to sit.

For about ten minutes.

Although it wasn't effecting him as much as Lucretia, Magnus' nerves made him antsy quickly. He changed out of his sweater and jeans into...well, really he just stripped down to his undershirt and boxers. He did sit-ups on his bedroom floor until he'd counted to fifty, and then got up to go through the rest of a bodyweight workout. Lucretia ran, he did strength training. It was just how they burned off nervous energy. He only did it for about half an hour, and nowhere near at the intensity he would if he was actually training. It was just a pleasant burn in his arms and legs, not a painful one. He showered and then got into warm flannel pajamas. He kept an eye on the clock as it inched closer to forty-five minutes since Lucretia had left.

 

She did as she promised, stretching in the elevator on the way down and a bit in the courtyard before she started getting too cold to just stand around. She started off at just a slow jog, and tried to keep it there. It was safe. She wouldn't pull anything at that pace. But by her third lap, she'd given up on this being anything but an emotional release. She went all-out. She kicked into the pavement with each stride. She leaned into the feeling of her chest burning with every breath. She stopped when she felt herself actually starting to wheeze, sitting down in a snow drift next to the path (just like an ice bath, she reasoned).

She pulled out her phone as she caught her breath. She needed to know whether she was overreacting or if she'd actually have to deal with this interviews tomorrow. As she was scrolling through Twitter, a mention notification popped up. 

“Fuck!” Lucretia’s curse echoed off the buildings around her. She put her phone back in her pocket before the impulse to throw it overtook her and got up. She didn't even bother to brush the snow off before she started running again.

 

As an hour came and went, Magnus grabbed his coat, stuffed a hat on his head, and put on the first pair of shoes he could find. He double-checked Twitter on the way down. Lucretia used it a lot more than he did, so he knew that if she was going to see something that would upset her more, this would be the place. Lo and behold, he'd been tagged by John. She and him were tagged in a picture of them walking out of the security office, attached to a vague questioning tweet. "Rumors of arrest in Olympic Village; Powers/Burnsides called in for statements?"

How had John even gotten that picture? He wasn't supposed to be roaming the village. The tweet wasn't too damning, just a question. Still, it made him grind his teeth in frustration. He debated sending something back to him, but he knew that was kicking a hornet's nest.

He made his way outside, regretting not putting on gloves as he stepped out of the doors. It was so cold out. And Lucretia had been out here for an hour already? Even dressed warmly and exercising, she had to be cold. "Lucy!" He waved a hand at her as she rounded a corner, trying to flag her down. He probably looked silly, in plaid pajama bottoms and nice boots and the opening ceremonies coat. Maybe that would get her to at least pause?

Lucretia frowned when she spotted Magnus, but obediently slowed to a stop in front of him. Her hands sunk to her knees. "Didn't mean to bring you down in your PJs," She apologized through wheezing breaths. "It's just that motherfucker..." 

Magnus grimaced and nodded. "I just saw. He's just trying to rile us up. We can fight him after we skate, alright?"

Lucretia looked ahead, wondering if she could talk Magnus into letting her run one more lap. She decided against asking. "I need to calm down and get some sleep, I know. I'll have nothing left for tomorrow if I run myself completely out tonight."

Privately, he thought that she was already running herself pretty ragged. Neither of them wanted to take it lying down, but there was something to be said for picking your battles. And one of them did have to be the responsible one, so that was him tonight. "You good to come up?" She didn't look particularly calm yet, so he shuffled his feet some, glancing around the courtyard.

She considered for another second and then nodded, letting her head hang a moment. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll come up. You're probably freezing." She was starting to get cold too, now that she wasn't moving any longer. She took a second to stretch and then followed Magnus inside and into the elevator.

He did his best to stamp the snow off his feet as they got into the building and relished in the central heating. He leaned against the railing and looked over Lucretia.

She was staring at the ceiling, still trying to slow her breathing. "I'm going to take a shower and then I'll move my pillows into my room. I'm not really in the mood for cuddling tonight."

Magnus froze for a heartbeat. "Sure." He considered offering to move the pillows or making a crack about making sure they both woke up on time, but he quickly decided to leave it alone. If she was annoyed and wanted space, she was annoyed and wanted space. He could cuddle Johnny the stuffed dog tonight.

She sighed and pulled her wet hat off her head. The elevator stopped at their floor and they both got out. "I'm not mad at you, if that's what it sounds like. I'm just...I'm still pretty wound up, and that doesn't make for good cuddling." She patted his shoulder as she passed him going into the suite.

"No, I know." He rested a hand on the small of her back. They shared a brief look of understanding, and then parted. 

She took a shower as hot as she could stand, bringing feeling back to her limbs. He moved her pillows for her and then settled down in his room to watch a mindless twenty minute show on Netflix. One episode turned into two and then three before the water finally turned off. She came out into the main area a few minutes later, a cloud of steam following her. After changing, she briefly peeked into Magnus’ room and asked him to help her put on her bandages. He easily obliged and gave her a bit of a smile as he worked. “Feeling better?”

The corners of her lips twitched. “A bit.”

He hummed in understanding. She seemed more relaxed, at least. “So I’ll see you in the morning at half past seven?”

“Seven,” she absently corrected. “My hair appointment starts at eight. I actually don’t mind if you sleep in, but I’ll be on the 7:30 shuttle whether you’re up or not.” She yawned as she got up. “Don’t worry about me. Our short program works if I’m a bit pissed anyway. We’re going to kill it.” She knocked on his head twice as if it were wood.

He snorted and pushed her hand back to fist-bump her. “Fuck yeah, we are.”


	9. Short

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The program is loosely based on Vanessa James' and Morgan Cipres' short program that they used during the 2017-2018 season, although I changed the order and the difficulty of elements. and <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6fYS1nZQts>
> 
> The full, unedited version of the song (Make it Rain by Ed Sheeran) can be found here: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRv0agDZMjA>
> 
> For those of you who know about figure skating, I wrote their programs and calculated their scores using the rules that were in place during the 2017-2018 season rather than the rules that were implemented in July for the 2018-2019 season.

Lucretia was back to her normal morning person schedule by the next morning. She woke up at 6:30 without an alarm and took her time going through her morning schedule. She made herself tea, watching the early morning through the living area window. When she was done, she pulled her yoga mat out and settled into her routine.

Magnus made his way out when his alarm went off at seven. His sleep wasn't the greatest. Cuddling with a stuffed animal or with the pillows just wasn't the same as cuddling with Lucretia, which he'd grown accustomed to over the past few days. But it was restful enough.

When he came out, Lucretia was bent back into a one-legged pigeon pose, one leg folded under her and the other in a catch behind her head. "Morning, Mags," she mumbled on her next inhale. She shifted to repeat the pose on the other side.

"Morning." It was good to see Lucretia back into her normal routine. He made a beeline for the kettle and the tea bags. "You sleep alright?"

"I slept enough that to keep the makeup artist off my back about dark bags. I consider that an accomplishment." As she finished, she laid down on the floor to relax her stretched muscles. "You?"

"Yeah. Johnny was on the floor this morning, though." Poor Johnny. The stuffed dog deserved better than a night on the floor.

She got up and poured herself a glass of water. "So I forgot to delete Twitter before bed last night. I ended up scrolling through some notifications while I was going to do it when I woke up." She took a few swallows of water. "We're going to want to avoid the press today at all costs."

Whatever disapproving thing Magnus was going to say got lost in the beeping of the kettle. "We can do that. Is it deleted now?"

She nodded quietly. "Might have gone a bit overboard, actually. I muted or deleted everything but calls, texts, and the music app." She sat down and rubbed her forehead. "I'm calmer than last night. Still kind of in a weird headspace, but definitely calmer. I'll be in the game by warmup. Just need to put some headphones on and jam while they're getting me all trussed up and I'll be golden." She sighed and then gave Magnus a smile. "Once you get dressed, we can head to the dining hall. I heard they have bagel and egg sandwiches this morning, which is pretty damn awesome if you ask me."

"Oh, hell yeah. Those are that good shit." And easy to grab and go! Magnus headed back to his room and got dressed quickly. Based on how cold it was last night, he put on thermals beneath his warm-up gear and a comfortable pair of sneakers. He double checked his bag (skates, assorted medical supplies, a power bank, and a charging cord for his phone...) and brought it back out with him. The bag went on the couch, and he headed back to the kitchenette to drink his now ready tea. "Your stuff packed?" Magnus took a sip.

Lucretia was sitting on the couch when he came back out, going through her bag. Really, it was a matter of consolidating her two bags. One ended up stuffed to the brim with two pairs of skated, just barely able to zip if she stored some things in her pockets. She gave him a confirmatory hum as she struggled with the last inch of the zipper. "Yeah. I'll have more room after I take out whichever skates I'll be using." 

"Do you wanna put some stuff in my bag?" He raised an eyebrow as he eyed her struggling. He couldn't get the second pair of skates either, but he could definitely get some of her other gear.

She pursed her lips for a moment. “Yeah,” She finally agreed, “I’ll just put some stuff in the side pocket and get it back once my skates are on.” She unloaded the stuff she’d put in her jacket pockets into the front pocket of Magnus’ bag. "I'm thinking we use the practice rink warmup time to run the jumps with each of the skates? I'll pick for today based on that." She knew that she'd said she would use the new skates today, but there was something in her gut that wanted to try.

"Sounds good to me. We know the routine; the skates are the biggest deal. So as long as the jumps go smoothly we should be fine." He chugged half the mug of tea in one go, mentally running through his morning checklist to make sure there was nothing he was forgetting. He just brushed his teeth, ran a comb through his hair, and then they were off.

They grabbed their breakfast on the run, enjoying it once they were settled into their seats on the shuttle. Lucretia wasn't particularly chatty this morning, which was pretty normal for her on competition days. They sat down at hair and makeup first, and she put her headphones in as soon as she could. She closed her eyes and went into almost a meditative state, only opening them when the makeup artist requested she did. 

He, on the other hand, tended to be jittery on performance days. So he was glad when all the hair and makeup people surrounded him and he had someone to talk to. He didn't have nearly as much done to him as Lucretia did, so he ended up relaxing in his chair and chatting with the hair stylist as she braided Lucretia's hair into an intricate braid that spiraled into a tight coil on the back of her head. He didn't get to see the end result, however, as he was called quickly back to costuming. 

She took her headphones out when she was done, smiling at herself in the mirror and then walking back to costuming as well. She was practically sewn in, and then walked out to the small podium so that Paloma could fuss over them both.

Magnus greeted her with a small wave, trying not to stare. He's seen her in hair and makeup plenty of times, but the team had gone all out for this one. They were both in rich navy blues. Magnus’ costume was essentially a suit; a fitted one-piece that looked like slacks and a shirt with a jacket over it.

Lucretia’s bodice was slightly corseted satin, her skirt was velvet, and she had a sheer elbow-length cape to top it off. On their costumes were embroidered silver stars and moons that caught the light with every movement.

He was never not going to think that the metallic accents in her makeup looked amazing on her. He raised his arms as he was instructed to, double-checking that it moved properly on his body. It did, of course. They'd worked with Paloma since the very beginning. She knew what did and what didn't work on their bodies.

"So, we were brainstorming a few ideas about costumes the other day," Lucretia made conversation as Paloma directed her to move in different ways and tested the strength of different seams. "We were wondering about the logistics of a few things."

The older woman just hummed in acknowledgment, not even pausing in what she was doing. "What sorts of things? Costume change mid-skate? Unconventional accessories?" She grabbed a pin out of her mouth and tucked a bit more of Magnus' jacket up against the false shirt below, planning on adding to the seem that kept it in place.

Lucretia turned in the mirror, happily examining herself. Her tights were made of the same fabric as the capelet, but less sheer. Silver stars went up her legs into the dark navy velvet of the skirt. "More the latter than the former. We were thinking something to the effect of putting an exhibition together based on a high school romance story. So like, the football player and the nerd, basically. If it's feasible, a costume change into something cheesy and prom-like would be really cool. Basically, we're wondering how long it would take you to make something like that."

Done with her adjustments, Paloma picked up a needle and thread and started actually extending the seam. Magnus kept completely still so he didn't risk being stuck with the needle. "Big transformations can take months to perfect, but something simple, if I take your existing costumes and modify them...a week and a half? Two weeks? We would need to work out details very soon." She swatted Magnus' arm as he shifted to try and see what she was doing. "This is for the Olympic exhibition, yes?"

Lucretia smiled tightly and nodded. "If we make it. It's more of a joke between us and our friends. Not too important if it would be a big time crunch to get it." She got close to the mirror to examine the braids. "If I give you a list of ideas, could you possibly estimate how long it would take and we can discuss it while we're dressing for the free program tomorrow? Of course, we wouldn't want you getting too deep into it until we're sure that we're going to need the costumes.”

"I could take a look, yes." Lucretia went to grab her phone and a scrap of paper, writing down the ideas from her phone. Paloma finished with Magnus and he turned this way and that. 

Paloma gave Lucretia a once-over as well now that Magnus was fixed. Really, all of her checking was just making sure the fabric laid correctly in different poses. Once she was done, she waved them off to the warmup rink.

Magnus was more than happy to get onto the ice. The costumes and makeup were great and all, but this was what he was here for. Despite the nerves, Magnus couldn't keep from grinning as he tightened his skates. Today was the day!

Lucretia hummed as she laced up her old skates. "These...feel right." She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from biting her lip and messing up her makeup. "Muscle memory may say differently, but these feel so much better than the new skates."

"They're more broken in, I bet they're more comfortable." He looked her over. She seemed more at ease in the worn-in skates. "Let's give them a try?" He pulled the knot tight on his own skated then tucked in the loose ends and got to his feet.

"Let's," She agreed eagerly. They didn't have time to run through the whole program, and they couldn't with all the other skaters warming up there anyway. But they could do a few passes of footwork and a few jumps when they found an open space. She was grinning before too long. It felt triumphant, being back in the skates that had been taken from her. She had to adjust the jumps just slightly to make up for the slightly different curve of the blades, but the feeling made up for the extra work in her opinion. She didn't even bother to time their practice and change halfway through. She just went until they were called off the ice to let others on. "Yes. These are it."

Magnus was smiling as well. Even though he could tell it wasn't a completely smooth transition, the smile on Lucretia's face was worth it. "You're doing awesome in them. We're going to be great today." He leaned down and knocked on the bench - metal, but there wasn't any wood nearby.

Lucretia's phone buzzed in her pocket. "Dav's on the way down. He and Merle muscled their way into front-row spots for the whole gang right behind our waiting area. She flipped her phone around to show Magnus the selfie Taako had sent her of everyone squeezed together behind their flag.

"How'd they manage that?" 

"Who knows? There are a certain number of seats put aside for Olympians, but I have no idea how they managed to snag so many. They probably did the same for Taako's performance, if I had to guess."

Magnus finally sat down next to Lucretia to get a better look at the phone. Taako was sitting beside Cary and Killian, with Johann and Avi on the periphery among a few other athletes they knew. Merle was on Taako's other side, beaming with an arm around Dav, who seemed to be reluctantly participating in the selfie. No Lup and Barry yet - he had to still be at curling - but it looked like they had seats saved on the other side of Merle. "Odds that at least one of them has something to fling at us when we're done? My money's on Taako and something borderline inappropriate."

Davenport met up with them before Lucretia got a chance to answer. They filled him in on the plan with the skates while he also examined their costumes. They had been on the borderline of following the rules with Paloma's creations before. Her dresses, in general, tended to be unconventional. Heavier materials, less glitter, and more embroidery. He was making sure that there was no chance they'd get marked down. He picked at the fabric of Magnus' pants a bit, sighing. They were fitted to the point that a stickler judge could call them loose tights, but there was nothing that could be done about that. They would have to be fine. 

Once he seemed satisfied, they found a place to sit in the viewing area that had been set up in the gym. "We'll be fine. We'll drink lots of water and grab a banana or whatever fruit they have half an hour before. Just like usual. We've got this."

Davenport looked at her for a long moment. She was a lot more relaxed than she normally was before competitions, and he wasn't entirely sure how to react to that. Frankly, Magnus was struggling to figure out what to do with it too. The biggest competition of their lives, with the deck stacked against them, and Lucretia was cool as a cucumber? "Alright. I'm heading up, then. I'm going to be with the group until Lup and Barry show, and then I'll probably mill around the rink. Find me if you want. And don't feel pressured to watch the broadcast. You know what's best for you."

"We'll see you rinkside, Dav. Have fun." He gave him a thumbs-up, trying to look just as calm as Lucretia.

Davenport gave them a smile and then headed off. Lucretia almost immediately popped her headphones back in and went back to blocking everything out. She did her best to avoid the areas with the TV broadcasts. She'd learned long ago that it wasn't productive for her to focus on the score they needed to qualify. 

Magnus wandered around. For a few minutes, he watched the second group warming up. He watched their footwork, watched for any creative lift ideas. Things seemed pretty standard, though, which was to be expected for the lower groups of skaters. He wandered into the lounge after that, finding an empty seat where he could just relax and breathe. He fiddled with his puzzle box, occasionally glancing up at the TV when something exciting seemed to be happening.

She stretched and did a few simple aerobic exercises to keep herself warmed up. Still, when she walked over to get herself a banana as the second group made their way upstairs, she couldn't help but catch the pair on the screen after she settled next to Magnus on the couch. She tried to focus on the size of the crowd, on the judges' expressions, on any problem spots on the ice. She winced as the pair on the screen flubbed their twist, the girl crashing down onto the man's shoulder hard and almost knocking them both to the ice.

Magnus caught her eye, shaking his head some. It was bad, but it would depend on the judges whether they got a penalty for it since they technically didn't fall. They continued their routine, visibly shaken.

Lucretia shook her head right back at him. She knew what it was like to be in that position. The pairs that were ranked that low really needed to pull off a flawless program to make it through to the free program. It was always disappointing when something like that happened and you knew your time at the competition was over so soon. She wandered away after the group was over and there was a break for the ice to be cleaned. More stretching, more aerobics. 

When the break was over, there were just two groups ahead of theirs so she was called back to hair and makeup to make sure everything was still perfectly in place. Magnus stood then, using that time to warm back up himself.

The third group finished, and they were called to the practice rink. There wasn’t necessarily a magic moment, but they were both calm, and that was enough for them. 

They got an announcement that the ice being cleaned again and it was their turn to head up. As they got to their waiting area box, their entourage pulled out a sign and started cheering. “You guys are the worst!” Lucretia yelled at them, grinning.”

Magnus managed to crack a smile and wave, but he didn’t say anything. They settled down next to Davenport and waited for the last few passes of the zamboni. Finally, they had their chance to warm up on Olympic ice, in front of all the cameras. They used the six minutes to do a basic run through of the major elements of the program, skipping the choreography and footwork sections. The clean ice allowed them to almost make marks of where they wanted to place the elements. They may not be able to find them after the skaters before them in the group, but it was still interesting to be able to visualize. 

Before they knew what was happening, the buzzer went off. They and two other pairs stepped off and made their way back to their seats. Now for the real nerves to begin. There were three pairs ranked below them in their group, so they would have to sit and wait. These were their equals. These were the scores that they would have to beat when they went up. As quickly as she could to keep from being caught by the cameras and seeming rude, Lucretia put her headphones on and the hood of her jacket up.

Magnus paid cursory attention to the skates themselves, but mostly he was watching the scores and trying to get a sense of the judges artistic preferences.

They both made sure to clap politely when they heard applause behind them, even if they were really in their own worlds. A pair passed in front of their box, flanked by their entourage, and Lucretia sat stark upright and dug her nails into Magnus’ arm. 

Lydia was walking with her hand wrapped around the male skater’s bicep. She gave the two a sickly sweet smile and twiddled her fingers.

Lucretia glared and let out a long hiss of breath that sounded suspiciously like a growl. Magnus just stonewalled Lydia, putting his hand over Lucretia’s and trying to catch her eye. When he did, he shook his head. Not now. If anything, Lydia wanted a rise out of them to throw off their performance. The pair just before them was starting. They didn’t have time.

Lucretia nodded and took a few deep breaths to relax. They would be fine. She didn’t need to get worked up. They got to their feet and waited just behind the entrance gate, both rubbing their legs to get ready. Finally, the pair before them finished and stepped off. They circled the ice for a few moments while the score was tabulated. Neither of them heard the score of the pair before them. They were too focused on waiting to hear their own names.

Lucretia squeezed Magnus’ hand one last time when they finally did. They wasted no time going to center ice, waiting for the crowd to quiet down and getting in position. They leaned against each other, already their breathing in sync. 

In. Out.

Lucretia’s mind flashed to their sessions of watching the recordings along with the judges’ comments. Stay close together. Keep the choreo snappy, but make it pretty.

In. Out.

Magnus glanced towards their friends in the crowd that hadn’t quite quieted down yet. Carey had a sign that he couldn’t quite make out.

Tick. Tick. 

Standing there seemed to take an eternity, but then there was a moment of dead silence, and then the blooming of the opening chords of the music. Lucretia’s mind went blank as she fell back against a crouched Magnus’ back for the opening motion. The crowd melted away for Magnus as they spun and caught each other to a sharp strum of a guitar. There was nothing but the jazzy, flirty song and the person across from each other as they skated off, picking up speed as they chased each other around the rink.

Back around to center ice, Lucretia turned to face away from Magnus. Just a second of his hands on her waist and her stomach lurched as she was flying. She tucked her hands tight and put her core into the twist, knowing it had to be quick to keep it in time.

Magnus grinned as he caught her and put her down smoothly, exactly with the music. Somewhere under the beat, he was vaguely aware of clapping. Easy. Smooth. That was what they were going for. They went back into another transition, picking their speed back up for the quad throw loop, which was the only other element they’d left in the first half. Their speed was good, Magnus’ grip on her waist was good and hers on his wrists to push off. They counted it through squeezes and she was off.

The ice came more quickly than she expected. She wasn’t sure if it was because she didn’t spin fast enough or if Magnus’ throw was at too low an angle, but she didn’t have time to consider it. She just had to react to the impending fall. Her skate came down hard on the ice, skidding a quarter turn and lighting up a burst of pain on the ball of her foot. She squatted low on the leg to correct her center of balance. Her fingertips grazed the ice and her back leg extension wasn’t spectacular, but she didn’t fall.

Magnus let out a breath and then plastered the flirty smile back onto his face. They glided out into the death spiral, which was where Lucretia realized they had a problem. She could feel the burst blister on the bottom of her foot bleeding into her sock with a white-hot sting. She focused on keeping steady and on thinking ahead in the program. There was no way she could do an edge jump off this foot for their side-by-side. They would have to make some changes on the fly. As they transitioned into a dance hold for the choreography sequence that would take them into the finale, Lucretia leaned close to Magnus’ ear. “Change the salchow to a flip.”

Magnus didn’t have time to respond as they separated, but he caught her eye and nodded. They just had to keep an eye on each other and match how they changed the entry. But they could totally add an extra step in the entry. No problem. They watched each other carefully through the step sequences, lazy smiles plastered on their faces but eyes sharp.

Lucretia tried everything not to focus on the wet feeling in her tights or on how her foot ached every time she took pressure on or off it. She kept an eye on Magnus as they went into the jump.

The flip just nearly tripped Magnus up, faltering a bit on the takeoff. It made the timing just a little wrong. He had to compensate with a pause before the second jump in the sequence, but the third was smooth and together.

She let out a breath as they skated close to the wall coming out of it. She smiled at Magnus and he smiled back. They were in the home stretch. 

They met eyes once more in the transition to the lift, making sure they were both solid. Magnus nodded, and Lucretia turned for a backward entry. Their hands squeezed to the beat, and then she pushed up. She went into a complex star position, her left skate caught in her hand and just touching the back of her head with her other leg in a split.

Maybe it was adrenaline, but she felt weightless even as he let go of her with one hand. Lucretia counted spins as she looked out into to crowd with a proud smile on her face. This was what it was about. Magnus slowed, and she let go and flipped down. She was carried for just a moment upside down with her head to the ice, and then Magnus set her down as she cartwheeled out. 

Magnus was beaming at her as they picked up speed again to go into the spins. He all but launched himself into it, channeling that last burst of energy into keeping the spin tight and controlled and matching the beat of the music.

As Lucretia slid on her knees away from Magnus in a flourish of an ending as the music came to a stop, they were done. There were no points left to earn. It was in the judges’ hands now.


	10. Cry

Magus was breathing hard as they broke apart. He laughed once the music stopped and then got to his feet to help Lucretia up. “Hey there, Olympian,” He joked. They did their bows and then quickly cleared the ice. It hadn’t been a perfect routine, but they were satisfied.

Lucretia caught a small bouquet of carnations tossed to her by Carey. Avi threw Magnus a hat with floppy dog ears. He let go of Lucretia to put it on, shooting his friend a thumbs up before stepping through the gate.

She held onto the wall as she put her blade guards on and then took Magnus’ arm. “Go slow,” She murmured as they headed over to the Kiss and Cry, “I don’t want to limp for the cameras.”

Magnus instantly slung an arm around her back. “Gotcha. Just lean, I’ve got you.” He kept them both straight and didn’t let the cameras rush them. He helped her down onto the bench and straightened his hat before plopping down next to her.

Davenport joined them quickly, squeezing their shoulders and sitting down next to Lucretia. In the moments while the score was being tabulated, she filled them in on the injury. “Big blister on the ball of my foot burst on the landing. Bleeding pretty heavily still.” Davenport frowned severely at her, but one of the camera operators gave them a signal that they were going live before he could comment.

Lucretia blew a kiss to the camera and transitioned into a fake laugh easily. Magnus smiled as well and held up one hand with crossed fingers. They held hands, squeezing tightly.

Even their fake joy was short-lived. Their score came to 74 points even.

Lucretia pursed her lips for a moment, but quickly remembered to smile for the camera. It wasn’t a bad score. Not nearly. But it was nearly a point and a half below their season’s best and it placed them in fifth with another group to skate that were all more highly ranked than them.

Magnus’ face also fell, but he played it off with a shrug. Even ninth was enough to move on to the free, if it came to that. It was their first Olympics, and just qualifying for the free was enough for Magnus. So what if it wasn’t their best? They’d do better tomorrow. He managed a smile for the camera, then pinched one of the floppy ears on his hat to wave it at the camera.

They made their way back to their box, where they were greeted by most of their friends leaning over the wall. Merle nearly fell leaning over to steal Magnus’ hat and muss his hair. “Don’t worry, kiddo. You made it through to tomorrow. All is not lost.”

Magnus snatched his hat back but managed a fond smile. No matter how long he’d known Merle, the man had a way of making him feel like he was in juniors again. “We’ll do better tomorrow.” He promised.

Lucretia nodded in agreement. “Hey, Taako, do you have your ID on you?” She asked just loud enough for him to hear.

“No duh.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “What’s up?”

“I need my bag. And a roll of gauze and an ice pack from medical if they’ll give it to you. My padlock combination is my birthday.” He looked skeptical for a moment, but once she peeled off her skate and he caught a glimpse of how blood soaked her sock was, he gave her a salute and scampered off.

Magnus was chatting with Carey about the performance, only to hiss when he turned to take his own skates off and caught a glimpse of the blood. “Shit, Lucy.” In light of that, he thought they’d done really, really well. Fuck the terror twins.

Lucretia just gave them a tired smile. “Looks worse than it feels. Promise.” Especially not that she had the skate off and she wasn’t walking around.

“…Good to hear.” Magnus nodded, deciding to take her at her word. If she was really hurting badly, she’d speak up later, when they weren’t surrounded by cameras and friends and spectators.

Taako was back quickly with her bag and ended up just staying down in the team seating area with them. She moved swiftly while the last pair was skating, knowing the camera was off them. She cleaned up the blister - it was a large one that covered most of the ball of her food at couldn’t have really been covered by any kind of cushion. Then she wrapped her foot and put a new pair of socks on.

When she was done, Lup leaned over the railing. “Hey, Lucretia. Why the actual fuck do you have blisters? These aren’t new skates.” Taako picked up the offending skate, running his thumb over a few visible dings and work seams. Their glare was scary in combination.

Magnus exchanged a look with Lucretia. “Have you seen Twitter?” There had been some chatter about Edward’s arrest, he knew that much. The twins were smart enough to figure at least some of it out.  
Lup and Taako exchanged glances and then each pulled their phone out, scrolling through their feeds.

Lucretia kept her eye on the rink, knowing that the cameras could be back on them at any moment after the last pair was done. “Lydia and Edward stole my skates from our room first night.” She opened her bag and showed them the new skates. “Been trying to break these in ever since. Edward was arrested last night trying to sneak mine back into our room. I guess they were just looking to damage my feet.” Killian had a match a few days from now, and the Carey had a heat this afternoon.

They all paused as the last score was announced. They were in ninth. Magnus sighed. It was far from their best, but they could still pull it out tomorrow. They still had a second chance at redemption.  
Lup whistled softly. "I mean, at least they got caught? That's a plus."

"It's bullshit, though." Taako frowned and gave Lucretia's skate back to her. "If you're gonna steal skates, commit to it and toss 'em in the river or something." He shrugged and crossed his arms. He looked around until he spotted the pair Lydia was sitting with, wrinkling his nose in distaste. "'Course, I'm glad you got them back, but it figures they can't even pull off a fuckin' robbery correctly."

Lucretia sighed, not sure what to say to that. Really, she thought it was crueler to return the skates but she wasn't about to get into that debate with Taako. It was pointless.

With the event over, they all filed out of the arena. Lucretia put some weight on Magnus as they walked still, so they stayed close to each other. Once they exited and met up with everyone outside, Lup slipped onto her other side to support her more. "Well, you're officially forgiven for running off from dinner last night, guys. You had to handle the police and shit."

"Oh! How did your event go last night? I totally forgot to check before I did the social media purge this morning."

Lup grinned and reached down in her jacket to pull out two medals: the bronze from earlier this week, and the silver from last night. "It's not quite a win, but we still celebrated."

Magnus leaned around Lucretia to high five Lup and to try to get a better look at the medals. He hadn't realized how big they were - palm-sized, and they looked like they were pretty heavy. (God, he wanted one. They were absolutely going to get one. Fuck this disappointment bullshit, he was going to get one.) "That's awesome!"

"Number two out of, what, seven billion people in the world?" Barry scoffed. "Yeah, we celebrated." He beamed, proud of his wife. "And it was a really close second."

Lup rolled her eyes but kissed Barry's cheek. "Not everyone in the world does biathalon, Bear.

"Pretty much anyone could try, though. Trying counts. Which means that you're second out of anyone in the world who's tried."

Lup shook her head. "But yeah, it basically came down to the fact that I'm not really an endurance skier. Shooting was on point for both me and the girl who won, but she was a bit faster."

They all ended up on the same shuttle back to the village by waiting for the first one to be filled. Magnus turned in his seat to chat with Carey and Killian once they started moving. Magnus promised he’d come watch, as long as nothing crazy came up. Killian offered to save him a seat.

Lucretia ended up across the aisle from him, next to Taako and behind Lup and Barry. She chatted with the twins about the changes they'd made to the short, also telling them that they'd made changes to the free program but not giving away any of their secrets.

Taako clearly knew more about the nuance of what they were doing than Lup did. Lup was holding her own, though, having been around skating through Taako since they were little. He was surprisingly encouraging about all the changes, nodding along and commenting on good ideas or inventive combinations.

Lucretia tried not to spoil too much as they talked. Really, it was hard to imagine a program until you saw it anyway, but she kept certain things they had planned to herself anyway.

Finally, they were dropped off at the village. Magnus was itching to get out of his costume and into more casual clothes - and to wash all the hairspray from his hair. It felt weird and he wasn't a big fan. He took Lucretia's bag, letting Lup take over duties of acting as a human crutch. "How about Mags and I get showered up, and then we all meet in someone's room to chill? It's rare we're all available at the same time."

The group seemed generally agreeable to that. Only Carey and Killian ducked out. They were squeezing in a Valentine's Day date before Carey's heat.

Once they parted ways in the lobby, Lup patted Lucretia's shoulder. "Grab some comfy clothes and then come use our shower. It'll get you both done twice as fast if you don't have to share." Lucretia nodded. It made sense. All the showers were the same, after all.

She grabbed her toiletry kit and some thermals before leaving Magnus to it and limping with Lup and Barry down the hall to their room. As an actual married couple, they had a single rather than a suite. which meant that they had the bed for extra seating.

By the time Magnus arrived in jeans and a worn sweatshirt, they were all relaxing. Barry was helping Merle hook up his phone to a speaker to play some music. Taako was perched on the counter, flipping through a binder of local delivery menus. Lucretia was on the couch with her feet in Lup's lap. Her hair was untouched, as had been the plan with the stylist, but the change of clothes and her complexion showed how well she'd scrubbed down. Lup was working on carefully bandaging Lucretia's feet.

"You stole my job," Magnus joked as he took the spot at the other end of the couch. Lucretia sat up to let him take the space and then laid her head back down in his lap.

  
The music started playing behind them, and half the room rolled their eyes as ABBA filled the room. Satisfied, Merle settled down at the table with Davenport, who was shuffling a deck of cards.  
Lup just laughed. "She's mine now, Mags. You snooze you lose." She jokingly lifted Lucretia's good foot and pressed a kiss to the arch.

Lucretia nearly kicked her in the face on instinct at the ticklish feeling. Magnus actually flinched at a kick that had never come. He'd made the mistake of tickling her feet once. Once.

After she caught herself, she just tried to push her face away instead. "Quit it."

Lup grinned wickedly and licked her in retaliation.

Lucretia recoiled. "Gross! Barry, contain your wife's foot fetish, please!"

"Bold of you to assume that I can control my wife." Barry appeared behind the couch to hug Lup, taking her hands and 'pinning' them by crossing them over her body. "Besides, if we're talking about fetishes, you pronounced 'denim' wrong."

"You have more control than the rest of us do." Lucretia took her feet back while Lup was distracted, curling up in Magnus' lap.

Lup easily twisted their hands up and away, hooking them over Barry's neck and pulling him down into a kiss. "If I had a denim fetish, I would have jumped Mags when he walked in. I just like you in denim, babe."

Lucretia made a face and stuck out her tongue. "Get a room, you two. We don't need to see and hear all that."

"You're in our room," Lup wiggled her eyebrows and Lucretia groaned in defeat.

"You would not have jumped Magnus," Barry continued now that he was released and could take the open spot on the couch. "You have enough self-control not to go after every person in denim you see."

Magnus put one of his arms on the back of the couch so that Lucretia could get a bit more comfortable. "He has a point, Lup. If you like Barry in denim, it sounds like a fetish to me. Doesn't make it not one if you don't jump people you aren't married to."

Lup rolled her eyes. "Ok. Bad phrasing, then. Still doesn't make it a fetish. That's like, a more generalized thing than just liking it on one person."

Lucretia sighed dramatically. "Lup, don't make me look up the definition of fetish for you. I don't want that in my Google search history."

"You started this." Lup pointed a finger at her. She paused for a moment, and then pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Actually, looking it up isn't a bad idea..." She tapped away for a few moments before reading the definition from Google. "'A form of sexual desire in which gratification is linked to an abnormal degree to a particular object'...hm. That's a very specific definition."

Lucretia snorted. "Definitions usually are. That's why they're definitions."

Barry rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around Lup, reading over her shoulder. He did his best to hide a smile, biting the inside of his cheek in an attempt to distract himself, but. "Define abnormal for me, hun? What threshold are we working with?" He didn't manage to sound anything short of incredibly entertained.

Lup raised her eyebrows at Barry. "Watch it, mister. I don't ask you to leave your jeans on or anything like that."

"Well, not recently." Barry dodged before Lup had a chance to retaliate, her light slap hitting the back of the couch instead of him.

Magnus' face scrunched up in mock disgust. "Guys, if you're nitpicking this, the fetish question answer is probably yes. Can we leave it at that?"

Lucretia groaned again and got up. "I don't need to hear these details of your sex life, guys." She walked over to the kitchen area to see if Taako had found someplace decent for dinner. "If this is what it means to hang out in your room, we should move somewhere else."

"Oh, like your room?" Lup sang, grinning wickedly. "I'm sure you won't allow that. Too much evidence of you and Mags sleeping together again."

Magnus shook his head at her. "Stop saying it like that." There was nothing wrong or weird about sharing a bed, no matter what Lup and Barry claimed. His ears were burning, and he could only hope that he wasn't blushing (or that Lup didn't notice if he was).

Lup's annoyance at Barry was only soothed by seeing Magnus turn red and Lucretia pointedly refusing to look at her. "You two know it's ridiculous, sleeping together and not sleeping together, right?"

Lucretia finally turned back to face her, her eyes narrow. "I like to be warm at night."

"Yeah, it's warm." Magnus agreed, trying to be helpful.

Lucretia crossed her arms. "Regardless, who I share a bed with and who I do or don't fuck isn't any of your business."

"It is your coach's business, though," Merle piped up. "That shit can screw up a workout regimen. Extra cardio and all."

Magnus was lifting his hand up to flip off Merle when Taako groaned dramatically and spun around to jab a finger towards Merle. "Extra cardio my ass. Next time just at me, old man."

The room froze, all eyes turning to Taako. Merle didn’t even look up from his cards. “I’ll ‘at’ you if you promise not to show up to any more practices barely able to do a triple.”

Lup snorted in laughter. “Damn, I’m sorry Merle. I didn’t interpret his bragging texts about his new boy toy as a call for help. Would’ve spotted you some decent lube if you’d asked properly, Koko.”

“Fuck you.” Taako flipped her off and looked back to the binder. “Who wants pizza? This says there’s a decent place a mile away.”

Lucretia shook her head a bit, her mouth hanging open. “Merle, that’s not what at-ing someone means,” She managed through her shock.

Magnus recovered first. “You met someone?” He twisted in his seat. “Yes to pizza, but who’s the guy?”

Taako shrugged, not looking up at any of them. “Met him over here, it’s all good. Don’t worry about it.”

Magnus shook his head and flapped a hand him. “No, come on, what’s his name? What sport is he in? Or is he not here for the Olympics?”

Taako narrowed his eyes at Magnus, trying to determine if he was being mocked. “Lots of people are here for the Olympics that aren’t in sports, Burnsides. I’d argue there are more people here to watch than there are to compete.”

Davenport, despite the fact that his face had been red since this sexual talk began, looked up at that. “Is this the gentleman from the flight?”

Lucretia snapped her fingers in recognition. “Oh, the guy you fell asleep on? He wasn’t bad looking.”

Lup laughed. “You fell asleep on him? I’m impressed you got his number, considering you drool like a St. Bernard.”

“At least I don’t snore, Lulu. Unlike someone who spent her childhood sawing logs next to me.”

“Snoring is only an issue when only one of the people in bed does it. I solved that problem.” She smiled at Barry, who had gotten up to change the music to something more modern.

Taako ignored that, inspecting his nails. “For the record, Lucretia, he’s not just not bad. He’s like a California ten so of course I got his number.”

“So is he here for the games, then?” Magnus pressed.

“It’s Kravitz, right?” Barry piped up from across the room. “I saw you texting him during the event. He seems nice.”

Everyone (except Taako, of course) grinned as Barry spilled the name Taako seemed to not want to share. Lucretia chuckled. “If he was on our flight, he lives near all of us, yeah?”

Taako glared but seemed to not be sure who to direct it at. But he knew he was cornered. “Yeah. He lives pretty near us. Uptown, though. He’s finishing up his thesis for his master’s degree. Music competition, before you all have an aneurysm.”

“So he writes songs?” Magnus was genuinely interested, and fully into being nosy. He was relishing not having the romantic focus on him and Lucretia for once. “What kind of music? Is he here for the games?”

“Like, classical orchestra shit.” Taako was messing with his hair and avoiding eye contact, clearly flustered from all the attention. “He played a bit of what he has finished for his thesis piece on the plane. Pretty cool. Like, it sounded like something out of a horror movie score. He’s here doing a report on the music of the opening and closing ceremonies for his last few class credits. Now, can we please pick a damn pizza?”

They took pity on him and passed a pen and pad around to write down their pizza order. He excused himself to call it in. Lup snorted a laugh. “That was fucking weird, right? I haven’t seen him act like that about a guy since he was like, twelve.”

“Right?” Magnus turned back to her. “I think he’s got an actual crush on this guy.” Not that Magnus was an expert on crushes or anything like that, but it sure sounded like it. “Was it a crush thing when you guys were twelve? I bet it was a crush.”

Both Barry and Lup made their way back to the couch. Barry wrapped an arm around Lup “I’d bet they’ll get coffee, at least, once everyone is back home.”

Lucretia crossed her arms. “If this guy is staying the whole Olympics? That’s a month. They’ve already had sex, and it’s been less than a week. They’re long passed coffee.”

“But if they’ve only fucked, coffee would be the next step if emotions are getting involved.” Magnus tapped his finger against his temple and smirked.

Lup hummed. “Taako’s weird about proper dates. Always has been. They might go out for coffee before we get back, though.”

Barry shook his head at their speculation. “I just meant that it seems like Taako is going to keep in touch with him once they get back. Please don’t start a betting pool on if and when they’re going to get coffee.”

“I’ll put ten bucks down on coffee back home, but Kravitz shows up to Taako’s events.” Merle piped up.

“Nobody is going to take that bet, old man,” Lup rolled her eyes. “If the guy’s worth it at all, he’d better be there to support him. What the fuck if the point of a romance at the Olympics, otherwise?”

Lucretia shook her head. “I’m with Barry on this one. Nobody ever wins anything from those betting pools anyway.” She knew that the majority of the pools that were going right now were about her an Magnus, even if the rest liked to pretend they weren’t.

“I won five dollars once, actually.” Barry glanced at the door as he spoke and quickly shut up as the door handle turned.

“Food should be here in about an hour,” Taako announced as he came in. He looked between all of his found family, who were astoundingly bad at acting natural, and just sighed. “Why can’t you all mind your damn business for five minutes.”

Lup looked him in the eyes. “You have never minded your business a minute of your life.”

“Fair.” They laughed, and settled in for a relaxing afternoon and evening. With all the joking and teasing, and eventually the fun of watching Carey earn a silver medal, both Magnus and Lucretia were able to put tomorrow’s competition far from their minds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art is next chapter! Ahhhhhh!!
> 
> Also, I edited the last chapter's notes to give you guys some visual references and the music for the short program. Have fun!


	11. Free

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here they are!
> 
> Art is by [Ringlov.](http://ringlov.tumblr.com/) Click the pictures to go through to the post on their blog and give them some love too!  
> Program inspired by Vanessa James' and Morgan Cipres' [2018-2019 free](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXVwcFpxj5c), with [Wicked Game by Ursine Vulpine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66PdUOE6Tqw). (I highly recommend listening to this song, because the lyrics are SO Magnus and Lucretia)  
> Lucretia's costume inspired by

That night, Lucretia ended up moving her pillows back into Magnus’ room. They slept facing each other, the easiest way for her to tuck her feet away from him. It was a peaceful night, and Lucretia woke well-rested and early in the morning. After walking into her room to get dressed, she was easily able to decide that her feet weren’t up for yoga that morning. Instead, she got in her warm-up gear and went to the dining hall with her laptop. She found a quiet corner to enjoy a bowl of oatmeal and work on a writing project she hadn’t touched since they boarded the plane.

Magnus joined her about an hour later, eying her empty bowl and the way she was perched with her heel on the edge of the seat and her lip caught in her teeth. “Morning, Lucy.”

She jumped slightly at his greeting, the chair squeaking on the tile. “Morning. Sorry. What time is it?” She looked to the clock in the corner of her screen and frowned when she realized how long she’d been sitting there. They didn’t need to rush, but they didn’t have much time to linger over breakfast. As she put her foot down, her hip popped. “Damn. I need to stretch that out before we warm up. Bad habit, sitting in one position for so long. I should set timers or something.” She stretched and looked around. “I should grab some eggs. Balance out the sugar in the oatmeal.” She got up to grabbed a bowl of a couple boiled eggs.

Magnus raised an eyebrow as he watched her go. She was talkative this morning, and he didn’t quite know how to take that.

“You sleep well? I slept like a rock.” She smiled at him as she worked on peeling her first egg.

“I slept great!” He was easily able to return the smile. They sat in silence for a few moments before Magnus broke the silence with a nervous chuckle. “Is it a good or bad sign that I’m really jazzed about today?”

She smiled around the bite of egg she’d just taken, swallowing before responding. “I don’t think it’s bad at all. Just don’t let the excitement turn to nerves before showtime.”

He laughed at that. They finished eating and headed back to their room. Lucretia briefly considered bringing her laptop but decided that was too much of a distraction. She threw a notebook and a couple pens in her bag, feeling like she was going to need something beyond the music to keep her mind busy.

She ended up pulling it out even on the shuttle ride, making haphazard notes and sketches that were more a log of her thoughts than anything consistent. The process of getting ready was much the same as yesterday. Magnus’ costume was similar, even, but his bodysuit in black and his jacket in white to match Lucretia’s dress. The style of her dress was fairly classic: a black asymmetrical halter that ended just past her hips. The large rhinestones that covered the dress were anything but typical, however. It had taken a lot of experimentation to ensure that there was no chance any of them would fall off.

She spent her time after getting dressed stretching. She couldn’t do a full yoga routine in the dress, but she could get as limber as she needed to be. She ended up laying with her legs crossed under her and her elbows on the ground as she wrote in her notebook.

Finally, about an hour to the start of the event, they were called up to draw for performance order. With their score from yesterday, they were in the second group. The first group started a trend of the women drawing the numbers, so Lucretia did her best to not look nervous as she picked up a piece of paper and handed it to Magnus to read.

“Third. We’re skating third.” The official took the paper from him and noted it, and they walked up. “Good things come in threes, so let’s call it a good sign?”

Lucretia hummed and nodded. “Not as bad as it could have been, yeah. I don’t like being in this group in general, though. Seven pairs before us scratching the ice?” She shook her head a bit. At least they weren’t last in their group. Going before the ice was cleaned was the worst.

Magnus put an arm around her. “We’ll be fine. We’ve done practices on shittier ice before.”

She nodded in agreement. Soon enough, the first group was heading upstairs and their practice ice time was starting. She put a hand on his arm as they circled the rink. “Let’s keep the twist to ourselves for now, yeah? Just do the lifts to warm up your arms.”

He grinned. “I love surprises.” As they practiced, he made a mental note to tighten the laces of his left skate. It wasn’t awful, but it had more give than he liked. Even though they didn’t practice the twist, they still worked on the landing and exit. Magnus did a dance lift through it, Lucretia wrapping her legs around his waist. To the other pairs, it must have looked like they added a rather strange piece of choreography to their program.

All too soon, they were getting called off the ice to head upstairs. Davenport met them on the way up, chatting about the performance and their health.

Lucretia fielded his questions about her feet easily. “I’m fine. No new blisters, and it looks like most of the old ones are scabbing or callusing over. I’m wrapped up thick, don’t worry.” She was still planning on getting her skates off as soon as she could after the skate, but they didn’t need need to know that.

The rest of the walk up was a blur. They waved to their friends again as they walked out, waiting by the gate eagerly to be let on for their few minutes of public warm-up. Once again, they kept the twist out of the practice. They were feeling good. As they went for the quad thrown salchow, Lucretia got distracted by a lift behind them. Magnus didn’t notice her distraction, too focused on timing his throw right. Surprised by the force, she flubbed the landing. Her skate skidded out from under her and she landed hard on her shoulder.

“Shit!” Magnus quickly skated over to her, stopping short and taking a knee. “Are you okay? You didn’t hit your head, did you?” Nothing was bleeding, he could see, but it was still a hard fall. He hoped she hadn’t broken anything. Or sprained anything. Or any of the thousand other injuries running through his head.

“Yeah, I’m fine. She was already sitting up and brushing off the ice shavings. “I went down on my shoulder, no bumps.” She rolled the shoulder and then put a hand out for Magnus to help her up. Davenport waved them over, and it was then that they realized there were billions of eyes on them. “I just got distracted,” She tried to assure them, “Can we finish? I don’t want to end on that.”

Davenport sighed, but waved them off. She immediately started coaxing Magnus into doing the same jump again. He grimaced but understood her logic. They could both practically hear John harping on the fall and how it was a sign they were doomed. She pulled it off flawlessly just as the buzzer went off for their time ending.

Magnus laughed. It was perfect. Lucretia was perfect. He elbowed her gently as they skated off. “Good plan there, getting that fall out of your system before it counts.”

She had a smirk on her face as she put on her guards and they walked to their seats. “We’ll be fine. Check the costume for damage, though?” Once they were out of the way, both Magnus and Davenport looked her over but didn’t find so much as a loose thread or a shifted sequin. Paloma’s work had held up once again.

“Clean bill of health, Miss Powers.” Magnus teased with a thumbs-up. They both sat down, wrapped in warm blankets to keep themselves warmed up. Magnus relaxed to watch the show, whereas Lucretia waited until the first pair started and snuck her headphones into her ears.

Magnus wanted to be critical of the first pair’s routine. But it was the Olympics, after all. They were with the best of the best. The most he could do was shrug and say it was a bit bland for him. Nothing they couldn’t match, for sure. The second was more dynamic, in his opinion. They were better at timing their jumps to the music, and their artistic score reflected that. Lucretia was unworried about either. She kept an eye on the scores, making sure they were right around where she estimated them to be. They were, which meant that she didn’t need to worry about the judges. Just skate well, and they’d be fair.

They got up as the second pair left the ice, each rubbing their legs and stretching.

Lucretia continued rubbing her legs as she took a second to glide a lap around the rink before going to the center. She stood up straight and caught Magnus’ eye. They shared a smile and a quick fist bump before she turned and leaned against his chest for the starting position.

He looked out over the crowd, taking in the lights and the people. He caught Lucretia’s eye one more time before they each took deep breaths and relaxed into the position. He had been focused at competitions before, but even now, in these few seconds, he could feel that this was different. Their breathing was perfectly together, and as the haunting opening note came, he could feel that they were right with the song as well.

Their arms came up, and she twisted and laid back into his hold. Both of their eyes still closed, she was floating. They only opened as she touched the back of her next in a small spin. The crowd faded away. Her concerns that they had only done this version of the program melted. The only bit of sharpness left in her mind was watching Magnus for signs that they might need to change things on the fly.

He just smiled at her, however. His arms felt like nothing at all. Perhaps it was just adrenaline, but he felt like he could do a million lifts. They picked up speed. They faced each other for a moment before they got in their position for the twist, and Magnus winked.

Lucretia couldn’t help her smile at that. He took her waist maybe a half second early, making sure his grip was secure. She gave a little nod to assure him. On the beat, she kicked off and he gave his all with a huff of effort. Her stomach lurched as she tucked her arms in and spun herself as quickly as she could. Magnus saw that she was at a near-perfect angle, and her rotations looked good. His arms came back up to catch her on the way down. She didn’t collapse into the catch at all, the touch really just stopping her spinning and slowing her descent to the ice.

She was breathless as she glided away from him and caught his hand to pull him along. Just over the music, she could hear applause for the unexpected quad. She briefly thought that if she focused, she could probably make out Taako in particular. But she didn’t. Instead, she focused on the transition into the side-by-side spins. Neither of them could see each other, so they just had to trust that through the different positions, they were both timing it to the music.

They were about a third of the way through. They came back together, building their speed back up for the long series of jumps and lifts ahead of them. There was no hesitation at all on the throw triple flip. Magnus grinned at the amount of height he gave her, and her flawless exit. Now, it was into the choreo sequence.

Magnus lifted her just up to his chest height and her arm hooking around his just so as she flipped head-down. She always got a kick out of the audience’ reaction to the apparently gravity-defying move that they didn’t even get element points for. They moved gracefully through the choreography, spinning and leaning against each other. They finished with a side-by-side triple lutz, which was really just a cherry on the beautiful segment.

Their transition looked similar to the choreo, which made it almost a surprise when instead of circling him again, she instead took an axel liftoff and was lifted high above his head their hands pressed together. He did a few revolutions of her in the simple split position. She leaned to the side, one hand going to his shoulder and one leg bending back towards her head. She squeezed his hand once more to tell him she was stable and then he let go as he changed directions in his spin. Both of their arms went out, showing off the one-hand hold for the judges as they spun across the ice. For the exit, she just leaned forward so her hand slid off her shoulder. He caught her just a there was a beat of a drum in the song, and then she cartwheeled out.

They stood for a beat with their arms out and then came right together for the pair spin. They went through four positions. First, crouched down with an arm and leg out each, then standing in practically the same position, getting the feel for the beat of the quiet section of the music. The second half started with their camel spins, Lucretia’s leg bent and his straight out. He crouched slightly, keeping a hold on her leg and she brought her leg up into a half-Biellman, catching her blade in one hand and using the other to keep him close.

It felt good, holding each other close and showing off her flexibility. But their focus still had to be there. They were in the final stretch. They skated out and transitioned into their side-by-side combination jump. As usual, Lucretia took the lead and Magnus adjusted to her. It three triple toe loops in combination. On the last, Magnus landed awkwardly. He was too flat-footed, too on the outside of his blade. To keep himself from falling as his ankle rolled, he crossed his front foot down and caught himself on the toe of his blade. It wasn’t pretty, and it wouldn’t gain them points, but it wouldn’t be a penalty either. Neither of them had time to assess if he was injured, as it was a quick transition into the death spiral.

It was low, and easy, and smooth. Magnus still couldn’t tell if he was hurt, as his twisted ankle wasn’t the one he was spinning on. He decided that if it wasn’t making itself known just yet, he didn’t need to worry about it. They did their four revolutions for maximum points and then came out, moving into the jump they had flubbed in warmup. As if to prove a point, Lucretia’s exit was snappy, her free leg perfectly parallel to the ground. Magnus smiled softly at her as he came forward and took her hand, but Lucretia was focused. She’d proved a point, but they needed all their energy for their big finish.

This lift didn’t have a change of position, but that didn’t necessarily make it easier. Lucretia went up backward, and it took her almost a full revolution just to get in position, parallel to the ice and supported only by Magnus’ one hand clamped between her thighs and her hand on his opposite shoulder for balance. They seemed to make almost an entire lap around the arena before the music finally came to a stop.

Lucretia rolled out of Magnus' arms to lay over his knee for the final note, both of them digging in just so to glide to a stop. Practically before the final note had died out, her joy bubbled over into laughter.

Magnus' face split into a wide grin as she started laughing. That had been incredible. Felt incredible. They were both sweaty and out of breath, but they could both feel in their guts that they had left every last bit of themselves on the ice for that performance.

She bumped her forehead against Magnus', grinning and just sharing breath for a moment. "We did good." She patted the side of his neck.

"We did good," He agreed simply, panting just as hard as she was.

Finally, they both stood to acknowledge the crowds cheering and the cameras flashing. They held their hands up, bowing to each side of the stadium. People were on their feet - people other than their little section of friends. Flowers and stuffed animals in plastic bags were being thrown out onto the ice. Lucretia waved to a few younger girls she spotted in the crowd. She tried to pick up as many of the bouquets as she could that she encountered as she skated towards the gate to make it easier on the attendants. She ended up with three - One of calla lilies that landed at her feet near center ice during the bows, another of a single white rose. As she came close to the wall, Lup threw a dozen brightly colored cosmos right to her.

Magnus was doing the same, picking up stuffed animals on the way. He ended up with an armful of little Olympic mascots and dogs that fans had bought especially for them. There was one in particular - a little stuffed dog that looked suspiciously like an Irish Wolfhound. Someone had been paying attention in interviews. He went well out of his way to nab it, startling the girl who was just about to pick it up. He apologized. Davenport gave him a slightly chastising look for that, but Magnus just shrugged in response and slipped his skate guards on. He needed that for the cameras.

As they passed by them, they waved to their friends in the stands. Taako was practically screaming, something about kicking ass, but neither of them was present enough to hear what he was saying. Lucretia was idly talking with Davenport about potential scores as they sat and waited, doing her best to come down from the energy. She and Magnus were sitting thigh-to-thigh, not caring one bit about appearances.

It seemed like an eternity passed before their names were finally called over the speakers once again. Magnus grabbed Lucretia's hand in anticipation. Both of them were holding their breath. The dramatic paused seemed to last for another eternity. And then, their score.

162.9. Not only a personal best for them, but a world record to boot. Lucretia covered her mouth in shock, tears streaming down her cheeks instantly. As soon as the cheers started to shake them out of their shock, they were on their feet. Before she fully processed what she was doing, she was off the ground with her arms around Magnus' neck.

Magnus didn't register what was happening at first either. They were world record skaters and they'd kicked ass. He caught Lucretia on instinct, hands on her waist, starting to say something (anything) about how well they'd done. But he never got a chance, because Lucretia surged forward and pressed their lips together.

[ ](http://ringlov.tumblr.com/post/179601593236/before-she-fully-processed-what-she-was-doing-she)

She pulled back after only a second, still hovering above the ground in his arms and grinning at him through tears. Magnus almost stumbled back in shock, holding onto her tighter to compensate and keep his balance. It was only when she saw his slack-jawed, starry-eyed expression that she realized what she'd done. With the world watching. Her glee quickly morphed into horror in an instant. "Oh my god. I didn't - I just got excited and..." She stammered, struggling for words and feeling like she would catch on fire at any moment.

Magnus laughed. What else could he do? Lucretia had kissed him. Lucretia had kissed him. He felt his shocked expression melt into a smile as his vision started to get blurry with tears. He laughed and put her down as he heard her apologies, shaking his head. One hand moved up from her waist to her cheek. And then, fully aware that the cameras and lights and the eyes of the world were on them, fully aware that this was going to be on HD film forever, he leaned down to kiss her softly.

Her apologies caught in her throat and melted into a soft, happy sigh. Let the world watch, she thought. As long as she could live in this moment, she was content.

[ ](http://ringlov.tumblr.com/post/179601593236/before-she-fully-processed-what-she-was-doing-she)


	12. Awards

Magnus pulled back from the kiss first, just enough to scrub at his eyes and wipe his thumbs over hers. "We'll talk later?"

She nodded dumbly. She felt numb with all the different emotions running through her in that moment. It was all so much at once.

Behind them, Davenport cleared his throat. Magnus flushed and slowly turned. They both tried to look at least a bit ashamed at their actions. Davenport just looked amused. "A word of advice? Go figure yourselves out where there aren't cameras. You don't want to discuss all that for the first time in front of the press. I can stave them off for a bit." He patted Magnus on the back in congratulations and then walked off.

They both turned back to each other, processing what to do and where to go. They ended up ducking into an area next to the box of the team that was skating now. "Uh? Fast awkward honesty time?" He couldn't quite meet Lucretia's eyes, but they still hadn't let go of each other's hands. "I- I mean, I do like you. A- a lot. A lot. But no pressure. You're the best partner I've ever had and I don't want to ruin things and if it's just me then that's my problem, not yours and-" He stopped, looking over her expression for some sort of feedback.

Her mind still felt like it was short circuiting. Magnus...liked her? That was complicated. If they ever fought or, god forbid, broke up completely, that would be the end of their career as partners. That was the reason why she had never brought this up as a possibility before. She had made it clear to him on day one of being matched up that she had no interest in dating and never would. But her lips were tingling and her chest was aching and...oh, Magnus was gradually looking more worried. "You're not ruining anything."

He squeezed her hands. That wasn't quite an answer, but it was better than silence. "And, uh, what about you?"

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to find the words. "It's not just you. I just...I don't..." She bit the inside of her cheek. "I like you too. But I need to think about what this means for us." She looked up at him almost shyly and offered him a small smile. "For now we can stick to the truth, yeah? It was an impulsive move in the moment, no comment on anything else. That should be enough to get them to focus on the skate.” 

He nodded slowly. “The truth sounds good.” He knew that being together would make skating difficult. He didn’t fault her on that. But hearing her admit his feelings were mutual made his heart flutter in his chest. They made their way back to their box and settled down to watch the second half of the show. He took his time taking off his skates, making sure they were good and loose before he slid them off. With the endorphins fading, he could feel the dull ache in his ankle. “…so do you think someone just won a bet?” He gestured to the stands behind them.

She looked up. The final of pairs had been too popular for them to get front-row seats again, so they were too far up to really get a good look at them. “Probably. They most likely had a betting pool of who would kiss who first. Maybe someone managed to guess it would happen at a Kiss and Cry. I highly doubt any of them got more specific than that, though.” She slipped on soft boots, wiggling her toes in the soft insulation.

Magnus hummed in agreement and pulled his phone out of his bag. He snorted as he saw texts from Carey and Taako that he would respond to later. “Yeah, pretty sure Taako just won big. He sent me a dollar sign and a thumbs up?”

Lucretia laughed as applause built up around them as the next pair finished. It was only when their score came up and they were a full 25 points ahead that it really hit Lucretia what they’d done. She pulled out her phone to get the short program scores, and her jaw dropped. “Magnus,” He looked up as she touched his arm. “We beat the previous record by enough that anyone would have to beat the previous record to pass us in score.”

Magnus scooted over so that he could look at her phone and confirm. “Holy shit,” He breathed. Sure, it was possible that one of their competitors could do it. But three? “Lucy, we…we’re going to get a medal.” He quickly knocked on the bench, but he really didn’t feel like he needed to this time.

Their shock was only interrupted by a camera entering their field of vision as John and his crew walked up. “Congratulations on the world record, you two. And let me be the first to congratulate you on what I’m sure will be a podium score as well. That was quite the performance, on and off the ice.” He chuckled.

Lucretia gave him a bitter smile. “Yes, well. It’s difficult to remember cameras are on when you’re that excited.”

“Oh, so this is just a look as to what happens off camera?” He raised his eyebrows.

Even her small smile disappeared at that. “No comment.”

John turned towards Magnus, who also shook his head. “Shame. What about that combination jump, then? It looked like you nearly had a fall there. What happened?”

Lucretia’s brow furrowed. She hadn’t even been aware of the incident. Magnus shrugged a shoulder. “The landing wasn’t perfect. It happens. I just knew how to save it quickly.”

John seemed satisfied enough with that answer, even if it wasn’t dramatic. “And the quad twist? We certainly didn’t expect that from you two. How long has that been in the works?”

Lucretia was quickly distracted from her worry about Magnus. With all the rumors about Edward, she was overjoyed to speak about things like that. “Honestly? We’d done it for fun in practice before, but we only folded it into the program this week. We had a few…unexpected difficulties after the opening ceremony. Those specific difficulties had the potential to make jumps difficult for me, so we made the decision with our coach to pad the program for points in other areas just in case.”

John made note of those comments for later, frowning just slightly in focus. “Is this related to you two having been seen being interviews by the local police the other night?”

She smiled sweetly at that. “I’m afraid I can’t say anything more about that. It’s a legal situation, after all. But I can say that the situation is resolved enough that you will certainly see us at Worlds. And with a bit of luck, in just a few weeks at the Olympic gala.” She held up her crossed fingers as Magnus wrapped bench with his knuckles.

John looked vaguely confused by the knocking, but didn’t comment. Instead, he glanced down at his notepad and then back to them. “Well, you two have certainly established yourself as the pair to beat. I’ll be back later after the metal ceremony, but for the time being, anything else you want to say to the fans back home?”

“Remember to spay and neuter your pets!” Magnus grinned at John’s raised eyebrows and then stared at the reporter until he wrote that down. “Also, thank you to all of our fans and everyone who’s helped along the way. We wouldn’t be here without that support.”

Lucretia chuckled at Magnus’ usual dog-centric message. “Ditto to what he said. I’d particularly like to thank everyone at the Neverwinter Ice Forum. From my coworkers in the office down to the Moms and Tots classes. Our fans keep us going in spirit, but most of the time it’s our fellow skaters that keep us going physically.”

John noted her words and shook both of their hands before walking away to his next interview.

Lucretia waited until he was out of earshot before she turned to Magnus. “You hurt yourself on the combo?”

He flashed her an almost guilty smile but shook his head. “It’s not broken, I can walk. I must have just rolled it or something. I’ll just ice it tonight and take it easy.” Was that the protocol for sprains? Not really. But he didn’t want to give the reporters anything to fuss over that wasn’t them breaking a world record.

She sighed at his assessment. “We to get a compression bandage on it or I’ll swell to the point that you’ll be sleeping in your boots.” She found her phone and texted Taako.

 

[FROM: Lucretia SENT: 10:34] I hear we won you some money. Think you can pay us back by snagging an ACE and an ice pack from the medical wing? 

 

She got a thumbs-up a moment later, making her roll her eyes. “For now, get it elevated.” The box was designed for all the members of the team skating event, so there was plenty of room. She tossed her bag at one end of the bench and scooted to the other. “Lay down. You should still be able to see the ice just fine with your head in my lap.

Magnus sighed. “I’m telling you, Lucy, it’s really mild.” Still, he followed orders. He piled his bag on top of hers, propped his leg up, and then laid down slowly. When Taako arrived, he sat up with a jerk. Lucretia quickly thanked him and accepted the medical supplies before his stupid smirking face could comment on the position they’d been in. Taako just walked off with a twiddle of his fingers, chuckling to himself.

Magnus took the roll of bandages and tugged his sock off to wrap the joint. There was already some visible bruising and a little bit of swelling, but it didn’t look anywhere near as dramatic as Lucretia’s blisters. Once it was wrapped, elevated, and the ice pack in place, Magnus laid back down in her lap. He looked out at the ice for a moment, and then up to Lucretia. “Sorry. I’ll keep it wrapped up, we’ll be fine for gala.”

“You don’t have to apologize, you just have to let me fuss over you.” She smiled and begun running her fingers through his hair. It was stiff with the gel that was in it, but it loosened up as she combed through.

Magnus made a show of rolling his eyes, but he smiled back. “I think I can manage that.” Lucretia playing with his hair felt nice. If they hadn’t been at the Olympics, he would have let his eyes slip closed. But laying on a bench looking like he was taking a nap would be incredibly rude, so he turned his head sideways to watch the skating. “How’re your feet holding up, by the way?”

“I won’t be wearing heels for a while,” She admitted sheepishly. “But I suspect if I take it easy, I’ll be in top shape for the gala. Even better for Worlds.”

He reached up to clumsily pat her shoulder despite the bad angle. “Good.”

Situated and calm, they lapsed into a comfortable silence that was only interrupted by the occasional roving reporter. Magnus was trying not to be weird about the warm feeling that had taken root in his chest since Lucretia had kissed him, but it didn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Moreover, if he let his mind linger on it at all, he could still feel the ghost of her lips on his. He could still feel the thrill of surprise and joy.

Lucretia snuck glances down at him occasionally, mostly as they were getting resettled after interviews. She couldn’t help but start weighing the benefits of being together, fully and officially. It was certainly easier to do than it was to date someone else. She hadn’t even really tried that since high school; it had always ended with the boyfriend getting jealous of her partner. Or, on several occasions, her partner getting jealous of her boyfriend. But the more she thought, the more she started to realize that all her fears were hypothetical, and all her hopes were almost certain. She was just about to start that conversation when they were interrupted. 

“Hello, you two. Have a minute?” None other than Lydia had strolled up, her smile a little too saccharine to be genuine. “I just wanted to congratulate you on such a great performance. A world record isn’t something you see every competition.”

Lucretia glared, not even bothering to pretend to be polite. “No thanks to your brother.” There was venom in her voice that made it clear that she knew that Lydia was involved as well. “You should be grateful that we’re keeping his name out of the press. At least until our court date.”

Magnus sat up, still keeping his foot elevated, to stare Lydia down. She didn’t seem phased by him, though. If Magnus didn’t know better, he’d say she was ignoring him. 

She was focused only on Lucretia as she frowned and shook her head. “Whatever Edward did, I’m glad everything at least worked out for you two in the end. Well,” She hesitated and inclined her head towards Magnus’ ankle and winced in false sympathy. “Mostly. You two are just full of tricks. We’ll look forward to your gala performance.”

Magnus narrowed his eyes and very pointedly swung his leg down. He planted both feet on the ground and leaned forward towards Lydia. “Look, you and your-”

“I wasn’t aware that you were consulting with my skaters, Lydia.” Davenport appeared practically out of nowhere, arms crossed and eyes hard. Magnus took the chance to shut up, sitting up straight. He shuffled towards Lucretia to watch the fireworks.

Lydia turned on her heel towards Davenport, surprised flashing across her features for an instant before the overly sweet smile was back in place. “Oh, no, I just thought I’d stop by to congratulate them on such a wonderful performance.”

“Your congratulations are noted,” Davenport snapped. “You can go now.”

Lucretia couldn’t help but get a comment in as well. “Unless your brother does the wise thing and pleas out, we’ll see you next in court, I’m sure. Bye-bye now.” She waved her off bitterly, staring her down with narrow eyes.

Lydia seemed to know when she was unwelcome, at least, because she didn’t try to stick around any longer. She just drew herself up and nodded to them, smile stiff. “In any case, congratulations.” She turned sharply to walk off in the direction of her team’s box.

“Fucking…” Magnus sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “I can’t wait for her to retire.” Complaining wasn’t going to get them anything, though. If anyone should be bitching, it should be Lucretia.

“I don’t want you two talking to her again.” Davenport looked between the two of them before Lucretia could speak. “If she tries to engage, call security.”

Lucretia pursed her lips. She knew that taking Lydia down a notch would feel good, but that probably meant that Davenport was right. They didn’t need things to escalate further. “Fine, fine. I’ll put security on speed dial.”

Davenport gave her a look for that, but shook his head to dismiss it. “You alright, Magnus?” He gestured to the ankle. “Don’t want it getting out that I drove two skaters to injury in pursuit of a world record.”

Magnus grinned at the joke. “I was getting tired and landed weird is all. It’s really mild, promise. With Lucy fussing over me, I’ll be fine. If anyone tries to say you pushed us too hard, I’ll set them straight, don’t worry. We weren’t even aiming for a record.”

Davenport nodded, looking only a little exasperated by them. He raised an eyebrow at Lucretia. “Please keep an eye on him.”

“Already on it, Dav. Dummy was just going to ignore it until tonight. Got him to RICE it.”

“Good, keep it up.” Another score was announced, ending the third group. Four skaters left, and they were still in the lead by nineteen points. “You two should probably head over to the medalists’ lounge. At this point, it’ll start to look like you think you’re too good for it.” He winked and walked off.

Magnus slipped a black sock on over the bandages. It didn’t match his boot, but it stood out a lot less than a bare foot next to his black pants. “Shall we?” Once they had their bags packed up, Magnus offered Lucretia his arm as if they were at prom.

She chuckled, but lifted his arm and put it around her shoulder instead. “We shall.”

Magnus ended up being grateful for the extra support. Without the excitement, it was hard to ignore the pain and not limp. The couches in the medalists’ area were more comfortable, certainly, but the constant interviews were grating. 

As the last group started, Magnus tried to pay attention to the first pair's skating on the monitor in front of them, but it was hard not to keep glancing to the score. This last group was the best, after all, so if any of them were going to outscore them it would happen now. But the first skate ended and they were still firmly in first place. Although they were currently in silver, the pair didn’t feel secure enough to join them so they were still alone for the next performance.

Lucretia was on the edge of her seat, muttering numbers under her breath as she mentally scored them. It was good. Really good. She didn't want to say it out loud and jinx it, but she knew as they came off that they were in trouble. She didn't breathe for the entire score announcement, momentarily panicked that they'd done it. They'd certainly beaten the previous record, but...there, the total score came up on the screen. Two points below theirs. She sighed and sat back against the seat of the couch. "We're guaranteed bronze." She laughed, nearly giddy with relief.

Magnus pumped one fist in celebration, but quickly brought it back down. They were medalists! They were Olympic medalists! Even with everything that had happened today, even with Lucretia still thinking about it, it was second nature for him to lean over and hug her. “We medaled! Olympic medaled, first try!” Thrilled as she was, he still kept his voice down to keep from yelling into her ear.

That pair joined them, and they both straightened to greet them and congratulate them. The first pair, currently in third, was still hesitating in the wings somewhere.

The pleasantries were thankfully cut short by the next pair taking the ice. They were good. Very good. They were good right up until about two-thirds of the way into their program when a throw went badly. The girl overbalanced on her landing and went down hard, landing on her butt and then falling to her back. Magnus and Lucretia both hissed at the fall, squeezing each other's hands. The pair finished the program without any more major disasters, but it ended up costing them a score they could medal with.

Silver. They'd won the silver medal. Magnus waited to make sure the girl wasn't headed to medical before he celebrated. Lucretia murmured to him that the rhinestones in her costume had likely caused serious bruises that would take her out of practice for a week or so, even if she didn't get any treatment. It meant that the pair was probably out of the running for worlds, so their feelings were far too mixed to do anything more than clap politely as their score was announced. 

The first pair of the group still didn't take their seats, but they were now standing just behind the couches on camera. Lucretia had to imagine that this was even more nerve-wracking for them, to wait and see if they were knocked off the podium rather than just what medal they would get.

Finally, the last pair took their positions. Lucretia laced her fingers with Magnus'. Later, she would admit that she really didn't remember much of the skate. She was barely breathing, squeezing Magnus' hand with each element and trying to keep from calculating their score out loud in front of the other pairs that were with them. The skate was excellent. The last expected element came up: a combination jump. The initial camera angle playing on the screen didn't quite catch how it happened, but as the girl spun, the single strap of her neckline somehow broke and a rhinestone clattered to the ice. She reached up to hold it together right as they entered the combination. She ended up doing a single and missing the second jump. She came back together with her partner for the double, but the damage was done. An X showed up on the element tracker on the judges' table, indicating an invalid element

Magnus cringed. No points for the entire element, and deductions for the costume malfunction and the pieces that fell on the ice? That had to hurt. But when he looked over to Lucretia, he realized what it meant. They had won. They'd done it. They both sat there, vibrating with energy. Maybe the rest of the program had been good enough? But no, the score came in, and it was nowhere near good enough to medal.

Magnus cheered, hopping to his feet and dragging Lucretia with him. She pulled him into a tight hug. Vaguely, she was aware that the couple that had been standing behind them made their way around the couch and sat down, but she ignored them for now. "We won," She whispered, squeezing him with all her might. "We did it."

Magnus laughed into her shoulder. "We got you that gold!"

There really wasn't time to say anything else. The reporters were descending, and Lucretia's manners made her break away to congratulate the other two pairs as well. Magnus was a known hugger, so he made sure to give each of the other four hugs as well. Although some of them looked vaguely uncomfortable, they all accepted, leading to some funny photos being posted later that day by the media.

Everything seemed to be happening at once. Lucretia and Magnus really had no idea what they were saying to the reporters that came up. Really, they seemed to be answering the same questions with the same answers over and over again anyway. They were too excited to even make their answers interesting or loaded. It was all just a blur.

Finally, the ice was cleared and the podium and flags set up. Magnus had told himself he wasn't going to cry. But he started to tear up just walking out to the podium. Lucretia helped him step up to the top and then he offered her a hand to help her up. They each managed a smile and a firm handshake as they bent down for the official to put their medals around their necks. They both started crying in earnest as their anthem started, although they kept it respectfully quiet. Once the cameras were off, Magnus hugged Lucretia tightly and sobbed into her shoulder. Medal ceremonies were always overwhelming for him, but this was beyond anything he'd experienced before. They'd won. Despite everything, they'd won.

Lucretia walked him off the ice to get her stuff. She tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. He wiped his eyes to clear his vision and hummed at her in acknowledgment. She just smiled and leaned forward, pecking a soft kiss on his lips. "Now, about that promise that you were going to carry me until we get home?" 


	13. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for some old-school songfic, y'all!
> 
> For the sake of it: I do not own Teenage Dream, nor to I own You're the One That I Want, nor do I own The Adventure Zone! Katy Perry, Grease, Griffin? Please don't take me to the lawyers zone.

Lucretia and Magnus skated out quickly from the gate as the music started, using the dim light to find their places. They only had a few seconds to get there and pose before -   
  
_ You think I'm pretty without any makeup on _   
  
A spotlight came on Lucretia, and she posed before leaning back into a spiral. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Her hair was done in braids with sparkly beads worked in, and around her head was a thick piece of wire (white so it was visible) that was supposed to be orthodontic headgear.   
  
_ You think I'm funny when I tell the punchline wrong _   
  
The spotlight came onto Magnus now. He was dressed in white tights and a blue football jersey, built up at the shoulders to look like pads.   
  
_ I know you get me, So I let my walls come down, down. _ __   
_ Before you met me _ __   
_ I was alright, but things were kinda heavy _ __   
_ You brought me to life _ __   
_ Now every February, you'll be my Valentine, Valentine. _   
  
They spiraled towards each other, spinning and jumping in a mirrored fashion until they finally came together.   
  
_ You're the one that I want (you are the one I want) _ __   
_ O--oo-oo, honey. _   
  
They skated off together, doing side-by-side jumps on the 'honey'.   
  
_ The one that I want (you are the one I want) _ __   
_ Oo-oo-oo, honey _ __   
_ The one that I want (you are the one I want) _   
  
Lucretia squeezed his hands and then he lifted her up into the air. She bent back with a hand on her forehead as if she was fainting with need.   
  
_ Oo-oo-oo, the one I need (one I need) _ __   
_ Oh, yes, indeed (yes indeed) _   
  
Magnus put her down and gestured for her to sit. She brushed off an imaginary chair and squatted, her chin in her hand. He skated around her, acting out the words of the song.   
  
_ I got chills, they're multiplying.  _ __   
_ And I'm losing control _ __   
_ Cause the power you're supplying _ __   
_ It's electrifying! _   
  
He fell to the ice and she stood up, a hand to her lips. She quickly skated over and offered him a hand to help him up, only to teasingly glide away for a short chase.    
  
_ If you're filled with affection _ __   
_ You're too shy to convey _ __   
_ Meditate in my direction _ __   
_ Feel your way. _   
  
He caught her and reached into his pocket to retrieve a corsage, made from the different flowers she'd received during their skates. She jumped into his arms in excitement, putting it on while he held her and they spun.    
  
_ You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream,  _ __   
_ The way you turn me on. _ __   
_ I can't sleep. _   
  
She grabbed onto the Velcro behind his shoulder pads and pulled as she was put down. The material at his shoulders furled down, revealing a suit coat. She pulled off her sweatshirt, tossing it to the attendant on the other side of the gate, and a bright pink dress unfurled from where it had been packed inside.   
  
_ Let's turn away and don't ever look back _ __   
_ Don't ever look back _   
  
The beat changed again as they went into a pair spin. Magnus’ leg flew over her head at one point. They glided across the ice in a dance hold, pretending they were dancing at prom. As the notes rose, he lifted her up by the waist, her arms spread over out over her head.   
  
_ The one that I want (you are the one I want) _ __   
_ Oo-oo-oo, honey _ __   
_ The one that I want (you are the one I want) _ __   
_ Oo-oo-oo, the one I need (one I need) _ __   
_ Oh, yes indeed! _ __   
_ So take a chance and don't ever look back _ __   
__ Don't ever look back!   
  
He tossed her into the air and caught her in a simple cradle hold before coming to a stop on center ice. The crowd was laughing and applauding, but neither of them noticed. Lucretia put her hand on Magnus' cheek and kissed him gently. Oh yes, indeed.


End file.
